Cooking Dried Legumes

Approximate amounts

1. 50-70 g per person, dry before soaking Dried legume
2. 80-100 g per person, cooked Cooked legume

Pantry

1. Store legumes in a cool, dry place.
2. In summer, it is best to store dried legumes in the refrigerator.
3. You can freeze them directly while dry and take them out when needed for cooking.
4. Thaw them and follow the usual soaking and cooking procedure.

Soaking

1. Wash and rinse all dried legumes before soaking them.
2. Soak all legumes before cooking them, except small brown lentils, which can be cooked directly.
3. If soaking chickpeas, you can add a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate to the soaking water.
4. Cover the legumes with water so that it rises about three finger widths above them, bearing in mind that they will absorb some of it.
5. Leave them to soak for about 10 or 12 hours, but no longer.

General cooking

1. Always cook legumes with softened and filtered water.
2. Cook them over low heat.
3. Use little water: only what is needed to cover the legumes.
4. Cook the legumes tightly packed, without allowing them to move around much; if necessary, place a smaller-diameter lid directly on top of the legumes.
5. If you add a few juniper berries in a small bag during cooking, you will prevent subsequent flatulence.
6. Never stir legumes during cooking; move them by shaking the pot.
7. Always add salt at the end of cooking.

Cooking table by legume

Specific cooking instructions by type of legume.

1. To cook chickpeas, start with hot water and cook them for 120-135 minutes; keep the heat high for the first 5 minutes and low for the rest of the cooking time. You cannot add water, and they must not stop boiling, because if the boil stops they will no longer cook properly.
2. To cook lentils, start with cold water. The Salamanca variety needs about 45 minutes; the Pardina variety, 20 or 30 minutes, but if you have not soaked it, it will need about 45 minutes; and the Puy variety, 20 minutes. You cannot add water, and they must not stop boiling, because if the boil stops they will no longer cook properly.
3. To cook beans, start with cold water; the Ganxet variety needs 75 minutes. You cannot add water, and they must not stop boiling, because if the boil stops they will no longer cook properly.
4. To cook white beans, start with cold water and cook them for 90 minutes. You cannot add water, and they must not stop boiling, because if the boil stops they will no longer cook properly.

Storage of cooked legumes

1. If you do not eat the legumes freshly cooked and need to store them for a few hours or until the next day, drain them and store the legumes and the seasoning liquid separately.
2. If you want to freeze them, freeze the drained legumes and the cooking liquid separately.