Sunday, July 29, 2007

Sprouting (An Addendum)

The CC should mention that normally you won't need to mist the cheese cloth more than once even in the height of a brutal summer because the sprouting process releases so much moisture.

This once again emphasises the advantage of cloth over plastic. The ability to evaporate, and effectively reach an equilibrium with the surrounding air.

In winter, whatever you do, do not mist the cheesecloth. You will end up with mold.

Here's a classic Gujarati recipe for sprouted moth/matki beans. The word is hard to transcribe so here's a picture instead:


The beans sprout easily, and are crazy delicious.

For the record, the CC hates the commercial sprouts. For one they are "over-sprouted" (they are almost plants.) The taste doesn't compare to the mild delicate taste of freshly sprouted beans (and the CC will go into the science in a future post.)

But let's get back to the recipe.

The recipe is a classic breakfast recipe. Yep, the vast majority of the world prefers freshly made breakfast, and the CC is one of them. Eat your heart out, land of peace and granola!

Ingredients

2-3 cups sprouted moth
1 tbsp dhanajeeru (roasted coriander+cumin, powdered)
1 tsp red chilli powder (go easy!)
pinch of asafoetida
salt (to taste)
lots of lime juice (to taste)

Recipe

The recipe is kinda trivial.

Fry some oil in a pan. Toss in the asafoetida; wait 5 seconds; toss in the dhanajeeru and the red chilli powder, and the sprouts. Saute for 10-20 seconds. Add water (about 1 1/2 cup.)

Let it simmer on low heat until the beans are edible. You may need to add more water. You're going to have to play this one by mouth.

Toss in the lime juice at the end.

The stuff is supposed to be slightly watery (but not soupy) at the end. The taste should consist of the spices, a very mild heat, and enough tartness to cut the heat, and just a tad more. None should dominate (this is still breakfast we're talking about!)

You can just eat it by itself but the CC loves to soak up the juices with a nice crusty baguette (how's that for multiculturism?)

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