Fermented Sprouted Chickpea

Fermented Sprouted Chickpeas

Making a batch of raw sprouted fermented garbanzo beans (chickpeas) is a super easy way to get more good gut bacteria, protein, vitamins and minerals into your body and nourish your yourself with an enzyme rich super-food. Preparation from start to finish in 5-7 days depending on seasonal temperatures.

ACTIVATION: Place two cupfuls of dried chickpeas into a large bowl or dish and then cover well with filtered water. The peas will double in size as they expand and absorb the water, so ensure enough water and room to allow for this. Soak for 8-12 hours overnight. The beans will expand rapidly in the first couple of hours, so give them a stir so they don't stick together. After the first 8-12 hours of soaking, drain the water, rinse the beans and check to see if their tails are starting to stick up(a).

SPROUTING: When the tails starting to stick up, lay the chickpeas out to dry in a glass baking dish or old takeaway box lid (a). You will keep the chickpeas in this dish for the next 24-48 hours to start sprouting. Rinse 2-3 times every 24 hours. After 24-48 hours (in warmer weather they sprout faster!) you will see tiny white shoots visible on most of the beans. Don't be concerned about any slow ones.

Once you can see the short white shoots, these beans and shoots can be blended into a home made hummus or dip. However, I prefer to rinse them well in salt water brine and ferment them with a starter culture for a few days more, which softens and pre-digests the chickpeas further and adds a yogurty flavour to them.

Fermenting sprouted chickpeas with a starter culture:
Cheap thermometer
Natural sea salt
Existing ferment as a starter culture (coconut water kefir is perfect for this)
1 or 2 large wide mouth screw top jars 0.5-1 ltr
Large bowl
Glass measuring jug, 500 mls
2 x steel spoons
Sieve
2-3 peeled garlic cloves for flavour (optional)
Filtered or spring water with chlorine removed (2 ltr should be ample)

PREPARATION:

Pre-heat oven to 100 °C and place your fermenting jars carefully into the oven for 30 minutes (this sanitises them). Then leave to cool for 30+ minutes.
Boil some filtered water in your kettle and rinse your bowl, jug, spoons, sieve in freshly boiled water.
Dissolve 2 tbls sea salt in 500mls filtered water in your jug, rinse the chickpeas with this solution to prepare them (this removes unwanted bacteria).
Wash your hands thoroughly, and keep a clean towel or paper towels at hand during the whole process.

STARTING THE FERMENTATION: Pour another 500mls of filtered water into your jug, add 2 tablespoons sea salt, stir, stand for 10 minutes to dissolve, creating a fermenting brine. Spoon the chickpea sprouts (incl. shoots) into your fermenting jars to about 3/4 full. Add 30mls of starter culture per 500 mls jar (or 60mls starter to a 1tr jar). Top the jar up with filtered water to totally immerse the chickpeas, leaving at least an inch of air at the top of the jar. Screw the lid on loosely. Place in a warm shady place (away from direct sunlight) at a temperature of 18-23 °C for approximately 2-3 days until the solution is bubbling well (cooler temperatures slow down the process). When there is good layer of bubbles on the top, place in fridge door to continue fermenting at a slower pace. Once in the fridge, leave for a further 2-3 days to get a good fermentation flavour.

Best practice tips:

I recommend running your spoon under some boiled water from the kettle before dipping it in to taste-test, and DON'T DOUBLE DIP YOUR SPOON!
Fermentation jars may may be left sealed in the fridge (or a cold cellar) for a few weeks for a stronger flavour.
Once you have started dipping spoons into the jar to serve them up, I recommend you eat them within 7 days.

You can use these highly nutritious fermented sprouted chickpeas to create delicious hummus dips or add them to salads, lunches or as a side vegetable at dinner times. You will be optimizing the nutrient bio-availability and digestibility. Your gut, digestion and friendly gut bugs will benefit greatly from this full preparation method.