We are just living a summary of a fast-paced life and food habits laced with artificial products. With little or no time to exercise, we look out for shortcuts. But as dieticians and health experts say, healthy food is a product of a healthy kitchen. So, let’s see how health can be sprouted in a healthy kitchen.
We can grow sprouts very easily at home or pick up clean and organic options from supermarkets. These superfoods are power-packed with proteins and micronutrients. For calorie-watchers, they are low on calorie, fat and sodium. Sprouts have been used since ages and are used for medicinal purposes too. They are also known for their easy digestion. Sprouts are versatile and can be used in various dishes.
Salad Recipes with Sprouts
Carrot Kosamalli
Cook time: 5 mins
Serves: 4
Type: Salad
Ingredients:
Carrot: 3 mid-sized, grated
Lemon: 1
Mung dal sprouts: 1-1 ½ cups
Ginger: 1 tsp, grated
Sugar: ½ tsp
Salt: As per taste
For tempering:
Oil: ½ tsp
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
Chana dal: 1 tsp
White Urad Dal: 1 tsp
Asafoetida: ½ tsp
Whole red chill: 1
Coriander leaves, chopped for garnishing.
Method:
- Take a large bowl and add in the grated carrots.
- Toss in the sprouts and grated ginger into the carrots.
- Season them well with sugar, salt and juice.
- Heat a tempering pan to dress up your kosamalli.
- Take oil and when the oil warms up add mustard seeds. Wait for the mustard to splutter.
- Now add the dals and asafoetida. Break the red chilli into two and add into the tempering. Let the whole thing splutter and come together.
- Pour this onto the salad. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.
(Tip: You can steam the sprouts for 10 mins, if you like.)
Desi Greek salad
Cook time: 10 mins
Serves: 4 people
Type: Salad
Ingredients:
English Cucumber: 2
Tomatoes: 3
Onion: 1
Mixed gram sprouts: 1 cup
Feta cheese: 150 g
Walnuts: ½ cup, chopped
Coriander leaves, chopped
For dressing:
Extra virgin Olive oil: ¼ cup
Vinegar/ lemon juice: 2-3 tbsp
Sugar: ½ tsp
Salt and Pepper: to taste
Method:
- Chop cucumbers, tomatoes and onion in chunks.
- Take a large bowl and mix in the three veggies.
- Add sprouts and walnuts.
- Cut the feta cheese into cubes and toss in with the salad.
- Take a jar and add in extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.
- Shake the jar well to prepare the dressing. Check for seasoning before adding into the salad.
- Pour in the zingy dressing into the salad and toss well.
- Add another level of freshness by adding coriander leaves.
Tip: You can throw in few pieces of roughly torn toasted pita bread.
Soup Recipes with Sprouts
A wholesome soup
Cook time: 20mins
Serves: 4
Type: Soup
Ingredients:
Carrot: 2 mid-sized
Potato: 1 mid-sized
Cabbage: 100 grams
Mung dal sprouts: 1 cup
Rice noodles: a handful, boiled
Vegetable stack/ Water: 2 ½ cups
Ginger: 1 inch
Lemongrass: ½ stalk
Salt: As per taste
Pepper: As per taste
Method:
- Wash, clean and chop 1 ½ carrot and 1 potato roughly.
- Take a pressure cooker and cook the chopped veggies well with enough water.
- Finely chop cabbage and ½ the carrot and grate the ginger too.
- In a deep vessel, blend in cooked carrot and potato.
- Heat up the blended mixture after adding vegetable stock or water.
- Into the vessel throw in the aromatics like lemongrass and ginger.
- When the wholesome liquid starts to boil, add in sprouts and finely chopped cabbage and carrot. Let it simmer for a minute or two.
- Season well and remove the lemongrass stock before serving.
- To serve, take a soup bowl and place some rice noodles and pour in the hearty soup with sprouts and vegetables. Serve hot.
Tip: You can garnish the soup with chopped greens of spring onion. You can prepare vegetable stock at home by boiling assorted veggies and some aromatics.
Cold Soup for your warm summers
Cook time: 30 mins
Serves: 6 people
Type: Soup
Ingredients:
Tomatoes: 1 kg
English Cucumber: 1
Red bell pepper: 1
Green bell pepper: 1
Onion: 1
Horse gram sprout sprouts: 1 cup
Garlic: 3-4 cloves
Basil: 1 sprig
Cumin powder: 1 ½ tbsp
Lemon juice/vinegar: 3 tbsp
Extra virgin olive oil: 5 tbsp
Chives or garlic greens, chopped for garnishing
Salt and pepper to taste.
Method:
- Make a cross on each tomato. Boil water and put the tomatoes in the boiling water for 3-4 mins till the skin separates at the cross-marked area.
- Take the tomatoes out of the water and put them to cool.
- Roast the garlic on fire or oven and mash it well when they are a bit charred.
- Peel and finely chop cucumber along with the bell peppers, onion and basil leaves.
- In a separate bowl, add in the chopped veggies, horse gram sprouts and mashed garlic. Hydrate them well with vinegar/lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.
- On a girdle, roast the cumin powder till a nice aroma comes. Keep an eye on it as the powder burns off easily. When the aroma comes, take it off the heat.
- Peel off the skin of the tomatoes and blend them well in a blender.
- Pass it through a sieve to get a smooth velvety texture. Add water to make it into a thin dal consistency.
- To the soupy puree, add roasted cumin powder, salt and pepper.
- To serve this red sprouted goodness, take a soup bowl and pour in the tomato liquid. To this add the prepared sprout and veggie mix.
- Garnish with chives or garlic greens.
- Serve cold.
Sprouts in multiple ways
Sprout wraps
Cook time: 60 mins
Serves: 6
Type: Main Course
Ingredients for sprout tikki:
Mung dal sprouts: 2 cups
Chana dal: 1 cup, pre-soaked for 2-3 hours
Ginger: 1 tsp, grated
Onion: 1 chopped finely
Green Chilli: 1 chopped finely
Red chilli powder: ½ tsp
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Cumin powder: 1 tsp
Amchur powder: 1 tsp
Fennel powder: ½ tsp
Ingredients for the potli:
Black cardamom: 1
Cinnamon: 1 inch
Clove: 2-3
Black pepper: ½ tsp
Ingredients for tempering:
Oil: 1 tbsp
Asafoetida: 1 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Ingredients for roti:
Maida: 2 cups
Atta: ½ cup
Oil: 2 tbsp
Salt: to taste
Ingredients for the wrap dressing:
Mint leaves
Coriander leaves
Roasted Cumin powder: 1 tbsp
Hung curd: 1 cup
Chat masala to sprinkle
Onions sliced thinly
Method:
- Take a small muslin cloth to make a potli. Put all ingredients for potli in the cloth and tie it well.
- Take a pressure cooker and put the sprouts, chana dal, ginger, onion, green chilli and all the spice powders. Add salt and the potli into the pressure cooker and cook for 4-5 whistles or till the pulse and the sprouts are well cooked. Once the cooker is cooled, take out the potli and mash up the dals. The mashed-up mixture should be dry enough to hold shape.
- Heat a pan and add oil for tempering. Add cumin seeds and asafoetida.
- Once the cumin seeds crackle, add the mashed dals and mix well. Check for seasoning.
- Make small tikkis and shallow fry them.
- To make the roti: Knead together maida, atta, oil and salt. Let it rest for 30 mins.
- While the dough is resting make the wrap dressing. For this, in a bowl add hung curd, chopped mint and coriander leaves and roasted cumin powder.
- Roll out the roti and cook them on a girdle with some butter.
- After the rotis are made you can assemble the wrap.
- Take a roti and spread the dressing, place few slices of onions and sprinkle some chat masala. Over this place 2 tikkis and wrap them tightly.
- You can cut them into 2 or serve it as a whole.
Tip: Instead of hung curd you can use cream cheese and tomato sauce as your dressing. Alternatively, for the roti, you can use tortilla wraps.
Sprout muffins
Cook time: 30 mins + overnight soaking
Pieces: 10-15
Type: Snacks
Ingredients for stuffing:
Rice: 2 cups
Mixed Sprouts: 1 cup
Green chillies: 2-3
Zucchini: 1 grated
Fresh coriander leaves: finely chopped
Onion: 2 finely chopped
Oil: 2 tbsp
Baking soda: 2 tsp
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Method:
- Soak the rice overnight.
- Grind rice, sprouts and green chillies into a smooth paste.
- Add in grated zucchini, coriander leaves and finely chopped onion.
- Add seasoning according to your taste.
- Preheat the oven at 180 degrees for 10 mins.
- Prepare your muffin tray by greasing and dusting with flour.
- Now add baking powder and baking soda to the batter and mix well.
- Pour and fill ¾ of each muffin mould with the batter and leave ¼ for the muffin to rise.
- Bake the muffins for 18-20 mins or till a toothpick comes out clean.
- Leave it to cool on a rack.
With healthy sprouts, we can enjoy a complete day’s meal. We can spruce up a nutrient-packed breakfast, a hearty lunch and a scrumptiously delicious dinner. And not to forget mid-morning snack and evening tea-time yummy stories. One can enjoy these high-vitamins and minerals yet humble sprouts with a bit of creativity.