advertisement


Cooking dry pulses

Vinny

pfm Member
I like everything from mung/chori/urid to marrowfat, turtle, haricot and butter beans, but I'd like to make multi-bean dishes without spending an age doing so.

All would be soaked before cooking.

Boiling different beans together would leave some as mush, even if I went to the faff of adding different beans at different cooking times.

Has anyone steamed soaked pulses? In the case of red kidney beans, I don't see how boiling and steaming would be any different - 100C or within not much, both methods.

I would expect them to stay whole irrespective of size and steaming time..................

I can find nothing online.
 
I've found it's better to soak with baking soda and then boil in the same water -- so that it boils with baking soda. I would not stream for this reason -- the joy of using the dried product is that you can add herbs to the boiling liquid which then enhance the flavour of the bean.

Let me take the opportunity to recommend these, which have a lovely earthy taste.

Just Natural Organic Haricot Beans 500g

The same brand of butter beans comes close, sometimes, to the flavour of the ones you get in Greece.
 
Just the steer that I was looking for - thanks.

I haven't grown them this year; but the borlotti & broad beans were superb done this way and then into tomato based stews etc; they keep their shape and texture and the flavour too, which is key!
 
TBH, I like the individual flavours, and eating them cold, with rice, pasta, whatever carb's, with some sort of simple salad added.

I have a mix or urid (strong, earthy, slightly bitter), marrowfat (sweet), and pinto (mild, verging on bland), on the go at the moment. Should go well with red rice or freekeh.

See how it works out - to be eaten chilled, tomorrow, with some fresh veg/salad added. I'll let you know.

Thanks again.
 
Pulses need to gain water during cooking to get to the right texture. Steaming won't provide this as easily as immersion in boiling water for the cooking time.
 
It's important to give them a 10 minute hard boil to break down the toxin phytohaemagglutinin, which will give you a very bad stomach. I remember people getting caught out with kidney beans when slow cookers first arrived on the scene.
 
Beans are done - around an hour steaming after several minutes boil. No doubt influeneced by age - the pintos were first (presumably youngest). Looking good - all are whole.
The rice is steaming over them so they'll be on a while yet.
 
I used to cook various beans but just buy them ready cooked in tins now. I’m prepared to do a lot of prep and cooking for a good flavour but find the difference not worth the effort when it comes to beans.
 
The down side to canned pre-cooked pulses is that you have to use a tin at a time, and you will have to search hard for more than a couple of types in most supermarkets, although Asian supermarkets and aisles carrying eastern European foods will generally have more choice. Tinned are also several times (and more) the price of dry.
 
Pre covid you could get flageolet and aduki beans in tins, we used to do a recipe with butter flageolet aduki beans and Chorizo sausage, now involves soaking and pre boiling for different times before cooking.

Pete
 
The down side to canned pre-cooked pulses is that you have to use a tin at a time, and you will have to search hard for more than a couple of types in most supermarkets, although Asian supermarkets and aisles carrying eastern European foods will generally have more choice. Tinned are also several times (and more) the price of dry.
40 or 50p a tin around here. I have all sorts, I have a selection ready to go. I don't want to be soaking stuff overnight when for 40p I can have them right now.
 
40 or 50p a tin around here. I have all sorts, I have a selection ready to go. I don't want to be soaking stuff overnight when for 40p I can have them right now.

There is no way I want an entire tin at once, except when making chilli. True, 50p a tin isn't much, but that is still a lot more than dry when cooked beans are around twice the weight of dry (and umpteen times the volume). I also have no problem throwing stuff in to soak in a morning if I fancy some beans that evening.

Organic - the next time that I pay organic prices will be a first, for anything.

Pinto, marrowfat and urid all steamed together here in one go - absolutely fine.

https://biona.co.uk
Lots of tinned organic beans including black chickpeas etc

Kabuli chana are actually a cheap grade in Asian stores as they have a distinct taste that not many like. (That said, much of the www has it wrong and labels white chickpeas as Kabuli - Asian friends also call them black and I was using them as carp bait over 40 years ago.)
 
It’s not just the soaking, it’s how long you have to cook them for to get them to melt in the moth like they should. No al dente. I’ve given up on dried chick peas, I use Cirio.

Another problem I’ve had is with borlotti beans. I’ve never been able to find ones which aren’t floury in the UK - you really need ones grown in Umbria - near castelluccio. I use Cirio.

Thomas Ridley is a good source of Cirio is a good source of Cirio products.
 
There is no way I want an entire tin at once, except when making chilli. True, 50p a tin isn't much, but that is still a lot more than dry when cooked beans are around twice the weight of dry (and umpteen times the volume). I also have no problem throwing stuff in to soak in a morning if I fancy some beans that evening.

Organic - the next time that I pay organic prices will be a first, for anything.

Pinto, marrowfat and urid all steamed together here in one go - absolutely fine.



Kabuli chana are actually a cheap grade in Asian stores as they have a distinct taste that not many like. (That said, much of the www has it wrong and labels white chickpeas as Kabuli - Asian friends also call them black and I was using them as carp bait over 40 years ago.)
I've seen empty shelves in Asda and people will walk past organic veg, maybe the word puts them off.
Try it it's not always much more expensive.
 
https://biona.co.uk
Lots of tinned organic beans
including black chickpeas etc


I bought some Biona flageolet beans recently, because the price of dried flageolet has gone through the roof. But I couldn’t get them to taste as good - it’s as if these beans need to be cooked with stock and vegetables and herbs for a long time to develop the flavour, and the canned ones are already too soft for that. Anyway, I’ve used them up now and ordered some outrageously expensive dried ones from eBay.

Biona gherkins are good.
 
I’m the only one who eats beans here. Routinely add them to a salad as well as more conventional uses. An opened tin lasts many days in the fridge; I’ve yet to waste any.
The cost of cooking can’t be ignored. Older stock can take much longer to cook too.
 


advertisement


Back
Top