It is common in parts of India to make Mung Bean Pancakes (1). Soak the Mung Beans in more than three times the volume, for 4 hours. Throw the water away, grind the mung beans to a puree, and let it ferment overnight, and prepare it on a girdle as you would cook Pancakes.<p>My value add in this is that, between the soak and grind phases, I put the beans in the fridge for 24 hours tied in a wet cloth, and let it sprout before grinding it. Soak > Sprout > Grind > Ferment > Pancake. The sprouting increases the amount of nutrients marginally (2)(3).<p>One of the common and widely used ingredient to counter the gas-producing nature of legume dishes, is Asafoetida (aka Hing). (4)<p>(1) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesarattu" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesarattu</a><p>(2) <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4573095/" rel="nofollow">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4573095/</a><p>(3) <a href="https://www.echocommunity.org/en/resources/bcee9e2a-f494-4b5f-ac91-449a354f6078" rel="nofollow">https://www.echocommunity.org/en/resources/bcee9e2a-f494-4b5...</a><p>(4) <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54617077" rel="nofollow">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54617077</a>
If you'd like to eliminate gas formation caused by legumes, you need only change the water (preferably twice) during the cooking process. Undigestible sugars (AKA soluble fiber) are the primary culprit for this property of most legumes. Conveniently, they dissolve when heated in water. However, legumes begin very hard and it takes a lot of boiling to release all of those gas-forming sugars. If you have a legume that takes two hours to soften by boiling, try changing the water once after an hour, and again after they're fully boiled. (And rinse thoroughly.) Then you can use them in any dish and generally suffer little to no gas after consuming. Enjoy!
This reminds me of my childhood when my mother would sprout green among dal, try to force feed me while trying to tell me the health benefits.<p>Now I live in Europe and overpay for sprouts in vegan restaurants. I guess my mother was ahead of curve.
An alternative to sprouting beans is to soak them until they start to ferment. Adding a tablespoon of sour dough starter, or some "back slop" from the previous ferment will kick start the process. The fermentation process breaks down the indigestible fibers that cause gas, plus give an extra umami boost.<p>One note, lactic fermentation produces lactic acid which will drop the pH of the beans which can cause them cook a bit stiff. After rinsing the beans you can soak them in baking soda water, or put a small amount (teaspoon?) or so of baking soda or calcium carbonate into the cook water to raise the pH and make the beans softer.<p>Another alternative is to use koji rice for an even greater umami boost.
I'm reminded of Neal Stephenson's book "The Diamond Age", where one of the plotlines is about undermining the centralized (molecular) 3D-printing industry to a decentralized seed-based 3D printing technology.<p>When you think about it, seeds are <i>fascinating</i> in their ability to bootstrap an organism.
I took it beyond sprouting and grew full fledged plants out of fresh tomato seeds, fresh bellpepper seeds, dried beans, onions, garlic, dried chickpeas and dried green peas.<p>They all grew and produced their own vegetables.<p>Rice and avocado failed, but I didn't pay any special attention to their needs.<p>Tomatoes, onions and garlic grow under cheap LEDs, too. The latter two probably grow in the dark tbh, very resilient.<p>Plants are amazing.
Funny, I sprouted my first seeds in decades, and they are <i>Acacia acuminata</i>, one of a very large taxon of pea-related plants.<p><i>A. acum.</i> is known (mainly in Australia) as Jam Wattle, because it smells like raspberry jam when sawn. There are supposed to be 2 million century-old jam wattle fenceposts in southwest Australia. Apparently they are proof against termites and rot. It seems to prefer 26 to 32 degrees south latitude, and sandy soil. Sandalwood likes to grow nearby to parasitize something it can't extract by itself, but can get from <i>A. a.</i>'s root system.<p>And, <i>A. a.</i> leaves (actually not leaves at all, but "phyllodes") have lots of interesting alkaloids. The bark has lots of tannins, and the seeds have lots of protein.<p>To sprout them you have to scrape ("scarify") the seeds with sandpaper and then put them in a bowl and <i>pour boiling water</i> over them first. Then, the seed has to be exposed to sunlight while wrapped in damp soil for a couple of weeks.
One thing to note is that sprouts can harbor fairly nasty bacteria[1] though pressure cooking should help with that, some of those toxins are tougher than others.<p>1: <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-sprouts-are-especially-good-at-harboring-dangerous-bacteria_n_58347756e4b09b6055fedde3" rel="nofollow">https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-sprouts-are-especially-go...</a>
There's a whole "microgreens" community now. It seems to not require very much labor and you can harvest every week, give or take a few days. Doesn't seem to consume a lot of space either.
What I do with lentils is just leave them with water during one night, not too much water so they "drink" it all. Once they sprout I cook them in a pan with a little of extra virgin olive oil. Finally I add salt and the result is a very crunchy and healthy snack that everybody likes. Sprouts with Mediterranean touch
I do not want to spoil your sprouting fun, but please remember this: <a href="https://www.bfr.bund.de/en/ehec_outbreak_2011-186689.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.bfr.bund.de/en/ehec_outbreak_2011-186689.html</a>
I went through a raw food phase, and there was something distinctly satisfying about bean sprouts. And crunchy salads. Cooked food seemed so dull by comparison. The jar method is good, I had one with some plastic mesh that I'd leave on the drainer and swill through a few times a day. The post has inspired me to resurrect it.
I eat sprouted mung raw and I haven't died yet, should I cook them?<p>As for soaking before cooking, I used to soak lentils (brown) and mung but it's not needed if they are cooked (35min with lid on). Only larger legumes needs to be soaked or cooked much longer than 35min.
This is just a huge amount of labour, and it proves that home cooking is fundamentally inefficient (unless you have a large extended family).<p>We should be able to eat healthy sprouted foods like this centrally, at communal kitchens. There is too much waste, inefficiency, and cost associated with current restaurants for them to fulfill that purpose.<p>An admiral thing about Indian society is the food, and extended family support. Its not surprising that this author is of Indian heritage.