Grow your very ownAlfalfa Sprouts at home any time of the year with my easy doable method of growing the sprouts in a jar. Serve these nutritional crunchy homemade alfalfa sprouts with salads, burgers, sandwiches, veggies or lentil dishes.
Pick the seeds if there are stones or damaged seeds.
Take a clean jar. If possible sterilize the jar by pouring hot water over it or keeping the glass jar in boiling water for 5 minutes.
Add the alfalfa seeds in the jar.
Rinse the seeds a couple of times with water taking care the seeds don't spill out.
Cover the jar lightly and soak the seeds in 1 cup water for 5 to 6 hours.
Secure a muslin cloth or cheesecloth on the mouth of the jar with a string or rubber band.
Drain all the water from the secured muslin cloth.
Next rinse the seeds with clean filtered water. Gently pour some clean filtered water inside the jar through the cheesecloth or muslin. Shake the jar and drain all of the water.
Keep the jar inverted for some time till the extra water also drains out.
Store the jar in a cool and dry place for 3 to 5 days till you see the sprouts.
Rinse the seeds and the jar everyday with clean filtered water and then drain the water completely. You can keep the jar slightly inverted in a bowl so that any extra water drains out in the bowl. Discard this water.
When the sprouts are done, then remove the alfalfa sprouts with a spoon in another jar/box/zip lock bag and store airtight in the fridge.
Alfalfa sprouts stays good for 4 to 5 days when refrigerated.
Before using the alfalfa sprouts, thoroughly rinse them with warm or lightly hot water a few times. This also removes the hulls if you do not prefer them.
Add the rinsed alfalfa sprouts to your food whenever you want them.
Notes
You can use a clean glass jar or mason jar. If you prefer, you can opt to sterilize the glass jar with hot water. You can also use a sprouting jar or a sturdy BPA free plastic jar.
Rinsing is very important throughout the entire sprouting process. Rinse the seeds first before soaking. After soaking, rinse the seeds again. While the sprouts are growing, rinse with clean filtered water every day once.
Before eating the sprouts, rinse them thoroughly in warm or lightly hot water.
Keep the jar inverted in a bowl for some minutes to drain out all the water from the jar when you keep the alfalfa seeds to sprout and also after you rinse the sprouted seeds later.
If at any point of time you get an awful or stinky smell, trash the sprouted seeds.