sprouting lentils for hummus

[samariah]

i want to make a lentil hummus. how long do i soak/sprout the lentils? thanks!

[KellyL]

If I remember correctly, I think I sprouted mine for about 2 days. I let the lentil tail get about 2x the length of the lentil. Not sure whether there is a specific sprout time for hummus though.

Let us know how it turns out!

[KellyL]

Ok, I just looked it up. Soak 8 hrs, sprout 3 days, rinse 2-3 times per day. I don't think mine took that long though. I used it for chickun fingers.

[samariah]

ok thank guys

[samariah]

i'm a sprouting newbie, do lentils get softer when you sprout them so you can mash them up?

[samariah]

and after you soak them, how do you sprout them? just stick them in a bowl or what?

[KellyL]

You can sprout them in a colander if you want. I put a plate on top. You can also sprout them in a jar with a mesh screen or cheese cloth on top.

[youraw]

If you sprout them in a jar, after you rinse them, make sure you tilt the jar so all the water can drain out.

[samariah]

is it normal for the lentils to smell a little odd? i see a few of them starting to sprout but they almost have a very light rotten egg smell.

[jessirose]

How strange, it was my first time sprouting garbanzo beans for hummus the other day, and they started to sprout, and I thought they smelled like they were rotting with a mildew smell, the smell was much stronger today, so I threw them out thinking I ruined them. So do they always smell like that? And, since they didn't seem any softer by the third day from after the first night of soaking, can I just puree them after the first day? They also tasted very starchy, I'm guessing they don't taste much like the traditional hummus with canned beans

Any hummus experts?

[kaybee]

hi--

just a substitution suggestion. i have tried the hummus with sprouted chickpeas and i thought it was absolutley awful. I also dont think lentils will work that well; they stay crunchy when they sprout; theyre not going to turn soft or mushy for you, you would just have to process them a lot to get them even close to smooth. i have found that both ground up lentils and chickpeas, when i have tried to use them as a base for hummus or a spread have a "green" bitter starchy taste, nothing like the cooked-bean hummus.

that said, the best alternatives ive found are soaked sunflower seed hummus--soak the seeds overnight, rinse well, blend with lemon juice, tahini, garlic, salt, and whatever else you want to put in your hummus. not exactly like the cooked bean hummus, but a lot tastier in my opinion than the sprouted chickpeas or lentils. also, the sunnies blend up pretty creamy even without the addition of oil. usually i make the hummus without oil, then put it in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. yeah, this, hands down, is a million times better than the sprouted chickpea or lentil hummus.
another option is zucchini. chop up zucchini and put in blender with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, tahini(sesame), and herbs or whatever. blend till smooth. this one will need more oil because theres no natural oil in the zucchini, and will come out a bit "soupier" than the sunflower seed one, but i used to make it and just eat it by the bowlful.


save your sprouted lentils for lentil salad (sprouted lentils, grated carrots, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, optional: chopped pepper, cucumber, sprouted sunflower seeds, chopped herbs etc etc etc); thats the best thing ive found for sprouted lentils

kaybee

[Morn]

When sprouting garbanzo beans make sure you guys rinse them at least 3 times a day. It sounds like that may have been the problem. Oh and they do taste very different than the canned version. They taste earthy in comparison. I like to make red pepper hummus cause it hides a little of the stronger taste.

[MysticTree]

Rinsing is so important but also make sure to remove any damaged kernels as they will never sprout; they just go slimy and smelly and rot the good ones.

Georgina

[River Mom]

When sprouting garbanzo beans make sure you guys rinse them at least 3 times a day. It sounds like that may have been the problem. Oh and they do taste very different than the canned version. They taste earthy in comparison. I like to make red pepper hummus cause it hides a little of the stronger taste.

I have never had the garbanzo beans sprout. They never get a chance to bc we love them after we soak them then blend with a bunch of stuff, tomatoes, peppers, ect and spice to make a bean dip. I got the base for the recipe from
Alissas book I think I just used Carbanzo's cuz what I had on hand ... anyway we really enjoyed it.

RM