Grow Your Own Sprouts

Ah, the pleasure of watching life unfold before your eyes, inside your kitchen, one big step every day. The delight in seeing the tiny little roots grow stronger every day. Ever since I started growing my own sprouts, I am hooked to this spectacle on a daily basis.

Time was when most of my sprouts came off store shelves, almost a day or two old and looking dysfunctional and hardly the protein powerhouses they were supposed to be. And they tasted predictably flat. 

It was then that a friend told me about the Easy Sprout Sprouter, which seemed such a wondrously simple idea. I scrambled to get one from Amazon, only to get a package that was missing some parts. But I was not going to give up, I will have my sprouts, come what may.

Which is how I ended up making my own sprouter kit, based on the Easy Sprout idea. Sure, it looks very 'uncool' but who really cares as long as  I get the most amazing sprouts on almost a daily basis for my salads and soups?

The contraption that you see below and the sprouting instructions, both of them are inspired by what I saw and read on Sprout People, you could either go to their site directly or stay with me. 

Cation: Sprout People probably has a patent riding on the product, so  make sure you do not violate their patent. My home made sprouter kit  is not a commercial derivative and is meant strictly for my  own use and NOT for the market place.

How To Make Your Own Sprouter:

You need stackable food grade plastic containers with lids in an assortment of sizes, at least two in each size. The different sizes come in handy depending on what you are sprouting, I normally use the bigger size for moong dal and the smaller ones for alfalfa, mustard etc.

• A is the sprouting container. Using a sharp knife, make uniform incisions going out in a circular pattern from the the center of the bottom of the vessel. You will need a really sharp knife to make cuts without 'tearing' the bottom.
• B is the sitting base to be filled with water.
• C is the lid with incisions similar to A, plus random 'vent holes' punched in the center, to aerate the sprouts.
• D is a smaller sprouting container for harvesting smaller quantities.
• E  is the sitting base for D, to be filled with water,

Essentially, that is all it takes. Make as many or as few sets of containers as you want.

Now, for the fun part, the sprouting itself. I have used moong/mung here. You need about 3-4 days to get a robust harvest. All it takes is about five minutes of your time every day to ensure you never run out of sprouts. Keep alternating batches so that the harvest is continuous/

Day 1:

1) Wash and rinse one cup moong  and place  in A.

2) Stack A inside B so that the lips hang to on each other, but there is a large enough gap between the bottom of both containers.

3) Fill with water.

  4) Snap lid C on and leave to soak for 8-10 hours.

5) Separate the containers and rinse the soaked moong under a faucet. The 'soak water' in the sitting base B is rich in nutrients, you can either use it to make stock or as a drink for your plants.

6) Slide A back into B, put the lid on n and keep in a cool, dark place, like a pantry cupboard or a shuttered kitchen shelf. for another 8-10 hours to allow for germination.









Day 2:

7) Your moong would have starated sprouting by now. This is how the happy campers look like at this stage.

8) Rinse once again gently under a spray faucet, taking care not to disturb the seeds too much. You need to keep the sprouts hydrated for optimum growth.

9) Gently tap the container against the edges of the sink to wring out as much excess water as you can.

10)  A goes back once again into B and the lid goes on too. This ensures optimum draining of the excess water, leaving just enough to keep the sprouts moist for the roots to grow stronger.

11) You will have to repeat the rinse and drain process a couple of times more on Day 3, till your roots reach the size that you want. The bigger the roots, the more the protein, as also the taste, crunch and chewiness