Sprouted Mustard Seeds (Aavalu)
One thing I did not expect from mustard seed sprouts was spiciness. God, they are hot. I don’t know how many of you had the experience of paan-supari. The tongue tingles and burns at the same time, right? Mustard seed sprouts had the same effect. It starts with a bitter taste and then within few seconds, the whole tongue will feel like it’s on fire, ending with a chilled sensation. I liked the mustard sprouts ruchi.
The sprouting process was easy. Soak couple of teaspoons of mustard seeds in water for four hours. Drain the water and take the soaked mustard seeds in a loosely woven cotton cloth. Place it in a colander near windowsill where the Sun shines. Frequently spray water to keep the seeds and the cloth moist. Within a day, the sprouts start to appear. Wait another day for them to grow little bit. Then add them in curries, kurmas, raita and in popu or tadka. When added in moderation, mustard sprouts surely perk up a mature palate with rustic pungency.
For today’s meal, I prepared a yogurt based salad with mustard sprouts for parathas. Cucumber, carrot, mango, sweet onions, asafoetida, red pepper and salt mixed in yogurt; the poor mouth is still recovering from the flavor-jugalbandi effect.
Moong dal with Paratha and Mustard Sprouts Raita
2 cups yogurt
Half cup each – grated cucumber, carrot and semi-ripe mango
Quarter cup each – finely chopped red onion or shallot and cilantro
A tablespoon of sprouted mustard seeds
10 curry leaves and a pinch each- hing, sugar and red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon oil
In a bowl, take yogurt and add the cucumber, carrot, mango and onion. Combine.
In a small pan, heat oil. Add and toast curry leaves and mustard sprouts to fragrance. Stir in hing, sugar and red pepper flakes. Fry them to warm and add the toasted contents to yogurt. Mix thoroughly and serve. Tastes great as a dip or spread.
Recipes with Mustard Sprouts:
Mustard Sprouts Roti ~ from Live to Cook
You love your sprouts, don’t you 😀
Very innovative idea!
Comment by musical — September 12, 2007 @ 8:01 pm
. 🙂 Getting ready for the festival season sweets overload with bitter things now.:)
Comment by Indira — September 12, 2007 @ 8:26 pm
Sounds interesting but scary:-)
Is it like Wasabi???
Comment by mika — September 12, 2007 @ 8:56 pm
Indira,
I never knew mustard sprouts would be spicy..that quality of these sprouts is very interesting..Got to try it out..
Comment by Chandrika — September 12, 2007 @ 9:08 pm
Absolutely interesting. Would try it and let you know. And your beet broscht become a an every-week food for my kids. I made it yesteray. Now its a cake-walk to feed them with beets. I will be thanking you every time they finish the bowl. Please don’t mind!
Comment by Nirmala — September 12, 2007 @ 10:57 pm
Indira – you will get anything to sprout… but this I have to try… can’t wait 🙂
Comment by Raaga — September 12, 2007 @ 11:22 pm
my guess is that just like mustard oil mellows down on heating, mustard sprouts will taste less fiery when cooked.
Comment by bee — September 12, 2007 @ 11:25 pm
we normally never have sprouts, but this post has piqued my curiousity. i have to see what kind of a flavour they add.
Comment by lakshmi — September 13, 2007 @ 2:20 am
wow. i’ve never heard of mustard seed sprouts before in any Indian cuisine. Is this your own invention? Sounds like a very interesting flavour.
Comment by apu — September 13, 2007 @ 3:40 am
Very inventive! I have never heard of
sprouting mustard before, but now it seems
like ‘why didn’t we try this earlier?’.
I have heard of Kerala style ‘raita’s where
you use ground mustard seeds for a pungent
touch, but this is great.
Also, have you tried sprouted fenugreek seeds?
Makes a great chutney.
Comment by Sudha — September 13, 2007 @ 4:45 am
how very innovative! but then that’s you
will try making this for sure.
bindiya
Comment by bindiya — September 13, 2007 @ 5:00 am
This is my first time i have hrd abt mustard sprouts…hats off gurl..u rock.
Comment by Pooja — September 13, 2007 @ 6:46 am
Indira, thats an awesome post on mustard seed sprouts, never tasted the sprouts though, nice trail and was horrific to read that it has strong taste like paan….pretty interesting..
Added to my feed links so now I am able to see all ur latest posts..
Comment by Padma — September 13, 2007 @ 7:09 am
Hi Indira,
Lovely site with such a treasure trove of recipes and gr8 pictures 🙂
Thats a very interesting recipe..I had never heard of mustard sprouts.
Comment by Anu — September 13, 2007 @ 7:35 am
Very creative Indira! I did’nt think that we cna sprout mustard seeds! The raita and the koora with paratha look yummy!
Comment by Latha — September 13, 2007 @ 8:39 am
I’m a big fan of sprouts too. Unfortunately all the guys in the family aren’t thrilled with them. I put them in poha, and in chaat too!
Great recipe, and idea to put into raitha. Will try that.
Kanchana
Comment by Kanchana — September 13, 2007 @ 10:05 am
Indira thanks for the healthy recipes, sprouted mustard looks great
Comment by Sreelu — September 13, 2007 @ 10:23 am
How interesting. As someone commented above, I never thought of sprouting mustard before, and now I wonder why! As for that picture of the sprouted mustard seeds, it’s really cute! The seeds look almost dainty.
Comment by Uma — September 13, 2007 @ 12:44 pm
Now you got me all anxious about how mustard sprouts taste…. hopefully we get to see more attempts of you using the mustard sprouts. I use mustard seeds everyday but never thought that they could be sprouted…. innovative…
Comment by spandana tummuri — September 13, 2007 @ 12:54 pm
What?! I had no idea that you could sprout these!
Your raita must have been great.
Comment by TBC — September 13, 2007 @ 2:37 pm
Mika: How are you? Hope you are doing great.
Yes, they are little bit scary.:) Yes, they had almost wasabi like punch. Not bad in small doses.
Chandrika: I was expecting neem like bitterness, but what do you know, they made me grab water.:)
That’s great to hear dear Nirmala. All the credit goes to the beautful people of Eastern Europe.
Raaga: Yes, 07 is year of sprouts at Mahanandi.:)
Bee: Your guess is correct, less fiery on toasting.
Lakshmi and apu: It is an interesting flavor in small doses. Give it a try.
Sudha: Thanks for the neat Kerala raita idea.
About methi sprouts salad – I tried last year on a friends suggestion, but I found them extremely bitter to my taste. I like methi leaves better.
Thanks all for your nice notes. If you try mustard sprouts, let me know how you like them. Thanks.
Comment by Indira — September 13, 2007 @ 5:09 pm
Colorful raita makes me want to try, with mustard sprouts — hot-or-not 🙂
Comment by Linda — September 14, 2007 @ 1:43 am
These sound easy enough. One year on an herb excursion in the mountains I happened upon some fresh wild mustard that we added to our salad. Thanks for the recipe, I can’t wait to try!
Comment by Maryann — January 3, 2012 @ 10:59 pm