Friday, October 31, 2008

"Indian" Bean Sprout Salad!

The second best way to eat BEANS


Well... The best way to eat beans is definitely by sprouting them and eating raw...

This indeed is the second best way to eat beans.... as it is sprouts that are partially and quickly cooked...


A WORD about BEANS....

Beans contain oligosaccarides which are complex sugar molecules that humans do not have the right enzymes to break them down into simple sugars. Only simple sugars get absorbed into the blood stream and get assimilated.
As a result they get passed down into the large intestines (as they are not absorbed) And there the bacteria have a feast on these sugars, which causes gas.

The longer you soak the beans the more of these saccarides get dissolved out of the beans.
So soaking is very important.
And ofcourse sprouting them is the best way to eat them.

Also, The harder bigger beans are harder to digest compared to the smaller (mung beans, lentils etc.)


Ok, now on to the recipe:

This recipe is best made with these tiny Indian beans called Moth beans (pronounced as Moat beans.) They are not as starchy as other beans, but you can follow the recipe with just about any bean... You may want to increase the cooking time for larger beans... but you have to make sure you don't overcook the bean sprouts.

1T ghee /your favouite cooking oil (if you are vegan)
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3 cups of bean sprouts (you want the tails of the sprouts about the size of the bean itself, but not too long, like the mung bean sprouts found at grocery stores.)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1T ground corriander seeds
a pinch of asaphetida (optional)
cayenne to taste (you can omit it or reduce the quantity if you use fresh chilies)
salt to taste
juice from one or two Lemons/limes

Fresh salad thingies:

2 Chopped tomatoes
2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
Fresh green chilies finely chopped
Onions: slices or Spring onins chopped
And most importantly lots of fresh green Cilantro
Besides those you can add almost any kind of salad greens you can think of!!!



Use a large shallow pan.
Add ghee or your favouite cooking oil at High heat.
Add the cumin seeds.

As soon as the seeds start sizzling and crackling (you don't want these to burn), throw in the sprouted beans.
Add all the spices and stir fry rapidly with a fork.
Cook for not more than 30 seconds(for small beans like the Moth beans)


Take it off the heat.

Add lemon juice and the rest of fresh salad ingredients and mix everything up... Check for saltiness and sour

Serve hot :)


Yummy...... ;P

1 comment:

kory and heather said...

Srishti! I havnt had the opportunity to look at your blog for a long time, and maaaan have i missed out. It is VERY well done. We just built a solar food dehydrater so we can try doing the tomatoes. The other stuff is a little bit our of our league here in nicaragua, but I cant wait to try some things when I get home... maybe we should come and visit you for a week and learn from you!... and eat your delicious food. I hope you have a great new year! Love Heather and Kory