Sprouted Chickpea (Sprouted Chana)

Every legume is full of protein. My mom used to make a simple yet delicious recipe called “Vagharia”. We also used to consume steamed sprouted chickpea.

How to make sprouted chickpea? It is not difficult at all. And yaa, NO NEED TO BUY THOSE PROURT MAKERS.

If I want to consume it in the breakfast:

1. I take around 75 ml of chickpea (I use measuring cups, so it is ml),
2. Wash a couple of times and soak it in approximately 200 ml water.
3. Cover the container and let it stay overnight.

The next day morning, soaked chickpea seeds will swell.

I have never tried to soak it longer to get its root out. So you can google if you want to know more on it.

Note that if the room temperature is lower than 30 deg C, you need to soak it in lukewarm water and keep it over the fridge (I own a 165 ltr fridge, with coil at the back, so it is always warmer behind the fridge). So, it will remain warm.

How to Steam?

1. Drain the water and transfer the soaked chickpea into a small metal container.
2. Sprinkle some salt on it and mix well.
3. Put some water in the pressure cooker.
4. Put that chickpea container in the pressure cooker.
5. PUT A LEAD ON THE CONTAINER since we don’t want cooker water to come inside the container.
6. Close the cooker, without “siti” on it.
7. Turn on the gas to High.
8. When the cooker starts steaming, reduce the heat to low.  You can set 15-minute timer on your mobile phone and rest.
9. After 15 min, turn off the heat
10. KEEP THE COOKER AS IT IS FOR THE NEXT 15 – 30 MINs. And then open the cooker.
11. Take the container out.

Ok I enjoy it in four different ways:

• Enjoy as it is. Just salted.
• Sprinkle some Chat masala to make it tastier
• Mix it with curd (if you added more salt then needed he he he)
• Sprinkle a tsp sugar and a tsp of lime-juice on it. Mix well and enjoy.

Sprouted Moong

Since childhood, I have been enjoying moong sprouts. Google on health benefits of sprouts and you will come across ample of web sites that speak a lot lot about what sprouts are.

I like the taste of sprouted moong. So, I prefer to consume it raw. However you can steam it also.

How to make sprouted moong? Oh that is so easy. NO NEED TO BUY THOSE PROURT MAKERS!!

If I want to consume it in the breakfast:

1. I take around 75 ml of moong (I use measuring cups, so it is ml),
2. Wash a couple of times and soak it in approximately 200 ml water.
3. Cover the container and let it stay overnight.

The next day morning, soaked moong seeds will swell. Roots might not have come out. But this way also it can be consumed.

If you want root to come out, then you need to soak around 24 hours earlier. After 12 hours, drain the water and keep it as it is. By the next day, roots will come out.

Note that if the room temperature is lower than 30 deg C, you need to soak it in lukewarm water and keep it over the fridge (own a 165 ltr fridge, with coil at the back, so it is always warmer behind the fridge). So, it will remain warm.

How to Steam sprouted moong?

1. Drain the water and transfer the sprouted moong into a small metal container.
2. Sprinkle some salt on it and mix well.
3. Put some water in the pressure cooker.
4. Put that moong container in the pressure cooker.
5. PUT A LEAD ON THE CONTAINER since we don’t want cooker water to come inside the container.
6. Close the cooker, without “siti” on it.
7. Turn on the gas to High.
8. When the cooker starts steaming, reduce the heat to low.  You can set 15-minute timer on your mobile phone and rest.
9. After 15 min, turn off the heat
10. KEEP THE COOKER AS IT IS FOR THE NEXT 15 – 30 MINs. And then open the cooker.
11. Take the container out.

Ok I enjoy it in four different ways:

• Enjoy as it is. Just salted.
• Sprinkle some Chat masala to make it tastier
• Mix it with curd (if you added more salt then needed he he he)
• Sprinkle a tsp sugar and a tsp of lime-juice on it, mix well and enjoy.

Besan Ke Laddoo - Sweet balls of Chickpea Flour

I have a biig sweet tooth.  When I searched the net for besan laddoo recipes, I found many. But as a peson who don't like to cook, I went through all and tried to do it my way. This recipe may not be that "awesome!!!", but well, I made it for me, and I am happy. :-).

So when you put that small laddoo in your mouth, it starts as salty but gragually as it melts, you get that gentle sweetness of jaggery.

What you need: (I have used measuring cups, so even if the item is power or solid, I measure it in ml.)

• 75 ml Besan
• 30 - 40 ml finely chopped Jaggery up to 50 ml if you have a bigger sweet tooth
• 25 ml Ghee (I use Amul Cow Ghee)

For kids, eating is always a sheer waste of time, but we parents want them to get the best possible and I would say, natural nutrition. Besan is protein, Jaggery is energy plus a lot of minerals, and cow ghee is almost a medicine. You can also add around 25 ml of dried fruits pieces in the list of ingradients. The above measurements will make around 10 - 12 one-byte size balls.

So, the basic process is (read entire article first!!), mix besan, jaggery, and ghee, and then make byte-size balls (or bigger if you want) out of it.



Here you go with the actual process:

Take besan in a kadai, and heat it at a low flame. Stir continously. Idea is to let moisture escape from the flour and also to make besan a little crisp and also get rid of that typical smell that comes out of the raw besan.

After heating for a few minutes, you will start getting that roasting type of smell. That is the time to take the besan away from heat, and add ghee into it.

So, add ghee in it and mix it well so that ghee mixes with the entire quantity of the flour evenly. This should take a minute or two. And then, add jaggery and continue mixing. Jaggery will start dissolving in the mixture. When after mixing for 2 - 3 minutes, you feel that thre are no jaggery lumps remaining, it is time to quickly start making laddoos or balls.

Idea is to take around 20 ml of mixture and press it so hard that all the air escapes and we get a shape. Traditionally it is done with palm and fingers. If you can do it that way, great, but if you can't,  never mind, take two 10 ml mesuring cups, put mix in it and press them against each other. Or may be press it in ice tray to make squre "cakes". Because the kadai should be hot even now, the mixture will be warm if not hot, so be a bit more careful if you are using hands.

After converting the mix into laddoo (or cakes), let it rest for an hour or so. They will become more dry and firm.

By nature laddoo are highly sweet, such as motichur. Other laddoos like kuler or churmu, might be a bit less sweet, but this one, it will surprise you. By not frying the besan in ghee (the way we do in sukhadi / gol papdi), we have retained the physical properties of besan, which to me, gives a slight salty taste. Ghee acts as a binding agent. All the sweet you get is from nutrious jaggery that has blended will with besan. So when you put that small laddoo in your mouth, it starts as salty but gragually as it melts, you get that gentle sweetness of jaggery.