You probably soak them overnight in waterbefore cooking them the next day. It is a good practice because soakingthem in water makes them less gaseous. Interestingly, we Indians havealways followed such healthy practices without really knowing whyexcept that we learnt them from our parents. The west has discoveredthese means only recently!

Soaking is only the beginning. You cantake it one step farther once you realise what the mighty pulsecontains. It is literally pulsing with energy! It is Nature's energytreasure chest packed with proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins andminerals. And the best way to free this healthy treasury is to sproutthe pulse. You are already aware that your body needs glucose to makeit energetic. When you sprout a pulse, you help it to break down allthe treasures it contains into easier-to-digest components. Thus,starch turns into glucose, proteins into amino acids, And since youhave already done half the work of breaking it down for your body, itsings with instant energy when fed with this digestible fuel. It's likethe process of refining crude oil into petrol to be used as fuel­energyfor your car.

Sprouting enhances the pulsing-with-life-quality ofthe moong, for example. It destroys or neutralises potentiallyhazardous acids-e.g. phytic acid - that may otherwise retard therelease of vital minerals for your body; it breaks down saturated fatsinto free-flowing fatty acids; it converts proteins into amino acidsthat generate hormones and build up your muscle tissues; and facilitateeasy bowel movements. Sprouting is a pre­digestive process. By givingyour body pre-digested, food, you help it to use its energy inabsorbing all the nutrients, including vitamins instead of using thatsame energy in breaking down the 'crude' pulse and refining it.

When you eat sprouts, you are easing your body's functions, just as a busy cook may find it quicker to use pre-cooked food.

What can you sprount? Almost any pulse, grain or seed.

Pulses: moong, channa, peas, soyabeans, chowli, masur, matki, etc.

Grains: wheat, maize, ragi, bajra, barley, etc.

Seeds: methi, coriander, pumpkin, mustard, til, etc.

Easysprouting: If you need a measure of how much you should sprout,calculate approximately one-fourth cup of pulses per person. Washthoroughly to remove any chemicals, and then soak them overnight inwater in a large vessel so that they have ample scope to expand. Thenext morning, drain the water and rinse them in a large strainer - thekind you use for your tea. Keep them moist in the vessel. Rinse themthis way every day. They will begin sprouting on the third day. Now,you can even store them in the refrigerator, but continue rinsing themdaily in the strainer. Some pulses like channa may take longer tosprout than say, moong. So as to ensure that you always have themhandy, you can turn a comer of your kitchen into a mini-sprout farm.The best way to eat them is in their raw sprouted form. You can havethem in salads, as garnish over soups and sabzis, with parathas. Or youcan make your own special bhel by adding to them, boiled potatoes, rawonions, tomatoes, coriander leaves and herbal chutney.

By now,you must be enchantingly bewildered! Here you were thinking that wewould finally lead you to a diet. When, going by what we've writtenbefore, we seem to be encouraging you to eat more often! You are damright, we are! It is healthier to eat more meals of the right kind thanto leave long gaps. This way you are encouraging your body to becomemore energetic and ensuring that it has plenty of the right fuel tohelp you exercise and bum excess fat. You are also ensuring that fatnever creeps back - because where all along you had helped fat to reachvictorious heights, now you are stopping it from invading yourmuscle-tissue country! Now, you are an ally of your body's smart cellsand, believe us, they are great friends!