How to Sprout Dried Beans or Peas

Appears in
Lands of the Curry Leaf

By Peter Kuruvita

Published 2018

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Begin by placing them in a colander and washing them thoroughly in a few changes of water. Place the pulses in a container large enough to hold them all, and twice their volume in water. Pour in enough room-temperature water to completely cover the pulses by about 5 cm (2 inches), then let them sit overnight, or for at least 8 hours. By this time, they will have soaked up a lot of water and will have almost doubled in volume.
Soak some paper towel in water, then squeeze out any excess water. Drain the soaked legumes in a colander and cover them with the damp paper towel. Place the colander out of direct sunlight and let them sprout. All you need to do every 12 hours or so, for the next 3–4 days, is shake them around in the colander — hands-free if possible, or delicately so as to not break any tender sprouts — then gently rinse them off, and cover again with a damp paper towel before setting aside.