Sprouted horse gram chaat

Check out one of the best ways to have horse gram sprouts keeping its nutrionally value and crunchy freshness intact in this salad style chaat.

The happy wave of sporting started when a friend gifted a sprout maker with a couple of packs of seeds. This gets us on an interesting journey, exploring what sprouts well, what turns slimy and what takes a long time. Among the list of sprouts we tried, I was fascinated at the pace moong and horsegram sprouted irrespective of what the weather was. So now we have a supply of sprouts per week that we don’t have to struggle about. With the sprouts, we have a healthy side of salads and stir-fries. After a point, the sprouts started becoming less exciting, so our experimentations started and chaats took over. Here is the recipe for the most loved sprouted horse gram chaat.

Why is sprouting good?

Sprouting is the first step of a seed transforming into a plant. The seed swells up absorbing water and activating the growth of the root bud. The food stored in the cotyledons is not easily assimilable to the growing part. This is sprouting or germination. Sprouts therefore are nutritionally superior than the beans themselves. The proteases that stopped the stored proteins from being available are inactivated. The fibre content is increased and vitamins like E, C, and A are easily available. The sprouts are monitored to have reduced bloating issues when compared to the beans.

Is it safe to eat sprouted horse gram?

Sprouted grams are a rich nutritional asset and absolutely safe to eat. However, it is tougher than many beans so chewing a bit longer them is important. To make this process easy, you can blanch the sprouts before making this chaat. 

Ingredients to make horse gram chaat

Horse gram sprouts: The whole chaat idea stemmed from the fact that horse gram sprouts well. Horsegram is slightly flat small seeds that vary from a terracotta red colour to a muddy brown or gray. They have a distinct aroma when cooked and are so sturdy that they don’t mash easily. Hence sprouting makes it more digestible. when starting for the sprouting ensure that there are no sticks and stones in the batch of horsegram and wash thoroughly till the water runs clear.

Salad vegetables: the basic onion and tomato combo makes the salad base here. I have used red onion and vine tomatoes to make this. Red onions are a bit sweeter with lemon juice and the vine tomatoes are juicy to add to the crunch of the sprouts. The pomegranate arils that are added make a sweet tangy combo.

Herbs: coriander or mint are typical to most chaats. It is the same used here too. chop them fine and use the leafier part, Save the stalks for a dish where you boil like kulith saaru.

Spices: chaats recipes rely on the temptation of the tongue-tickling spices. Home-made chaat masala, roasted cumin powder and roasted dry red chilli powder are a must. I prefer using black salt as this enhances the chaat flavour. 

Roasted chickpeas: These air-popped chickpeas are the crunchy addition to this chaat. You can opt for sev or papadi too. 

Let’s make sprouted horse gram chaat salad

Making the sprouts: Sprouts are the time-consuming part of this recipe. Once the beans are sorted wash and soak them overnight. This can then be added to the sprout maker as an even layer and replenished with fresh water every day to ensure efficient germination. I prefer covering the sprout maker with a tea towel to keep the dark interiors that favour sprouting. If you don’t have a sprout maker, wrap the soaked beans in the tea towel and place them in a steel or dark box. Don’t seal shut, but allow air passage and the sprout will grow in 3-4 days. Once the sprouts are ready rinse them in plenty of water and ensure there are no mouldy bits.

Putting together the salad: Wash and chop the onion into small bits followed by the tomato. Add these to the salad bowl. Add the pomegranate arils and the chopped herbs to the same. Sprinkle the spice powders of roasted cumin, red chilli powder and chaat masala. Adjust the salt with black salt and squeeze in the lemon pieces. 

Keep the chaat ready: Now add the sprouts toss well and top with the roasted chickpeas. The  chaat is ready. 

Collaboration

Though a small group the Shh Cooking Secretly group has inspired many recipes that I would have otherwise stalled to place on this blog. The two ingredients that your pick of the lot allocates dictate the direction of the recipe to which you create your own. This is further to align with the main theme. For example, the theme here is sprouts selected by Jayashree.  My partner Archana, who wowed me with butter idli recipe, chose chaat masala. this instantly provided me with the direction to make this easily sprouted horse gram chaat. Both Archana and Jayashree are versatile bloggers who predominantly bring forth recipes from Indian cuisine, and do enjoy reading them too.

Other chaat recipes you don’t want to miss.

Tomato slice chaat
Strawberry bhelpuri
Green mango chaat
Pineapple chaat

Stay connected

Hope you will love making this easy-sprouted horse gram chaat. It is an absolute flavour bomb recipe that can be served as a salad or a starter at any gathering if chaat is not an option. Let us know how you loved this recipe or if you made any variations to it in the comments below.
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