Legumes - Dried chickpeas, dried lentils, dried beans

[Toomessy]

When I say dried I mean not the canned ones that are precooked.

I have noticed that British people don't know what to do and how to cook dried legumes in casserole dishes rather than boil them.

Whoever ask if and how they cook them the either respond that they don't cook them or they just boil them. Their legume diet go as far as canned beans which full of sugar and preservatives or hummus.

I come from a country where legumes are a big part of our diet and as a kid I used to have legumes casserole once a week either in the pot or in the oven.

Am I right or have I just spoken to a small percentage of people and British enjoy casserole legumes?

It’s more a question of environment. I’ve lived in hotter, drier countries where dried legumes are preferred. I’d take a jar and fill it up from a big tube dispenser and pay by weight. But in those countries I didn’t have to worry about the damp making the dried legumes…well not dry and then get mouldy or go off.

This is why tinned is the preferred method of preserving and storing legumes in the U.K. And usually tinning involves zero sugar and zero preservatives- so no idea why you think it has these additives.

YABU
I know perfectly well what to do with dried legumes, but I almost always use tinned ones because they are more convenient. Literally none of the cans of pulses I buy ever have sugar in, so I don't know which ones you've been looking at! I don't know where I'd even find ones with sugar in tbh.

Whenever I eat them I spend the rest of the day apologising to my family. The farts are horrendous!

But in those countries I didn’t have to worry about the damp making the dried legumes…well not dry and then get mouldy or go off. This is why tinned is the preferred method of preserving and storing legumes in the U.K.

Good grief, the UK isn't THAT damp. If it were we couldn’t keep flour, sugar or cornflakes in our kitchens. Read the other comments – dozens of people saying they use tinned pulses because it’s more convenient. Not because the dried ones go mouldy!

I went into an Indian wholesale shop last week and bought a few bags of dried beans. So much cheaper than the supermarkets

The chorizo and chickpea stew sounds lush (off to google the recipe)

I never cook them. Since childhood I’ve had a visceral dislike of any kind of bean, lentil, legume etc. The very few occasions I’ve tried one or two beans, or lentils, I’ve felt really sick afterwards. Not sure if it’s all in my head but I just cannot stomach them.

I'd be interested to know what brand of tinned chickpeas you have found, where there's sugar added. I always read labels and I can assure you none of them contain sugar. It's salt and water, but no added sugar. Of course chickpeas are high in carbs, so in the label there will be a line to say "of which sugars...." but that's not added sugar. That's the natural carbs that form a chickpea!

With the cost of electricity now I’m not convinced dried legumes would be any cheaper than using canned ones, especially if you don’t have a pressure cooker

I can't speak for anyone else but I have a selection of tinned. packet and dried beans and lentils in stock all the time.
Tinned are great for salads or making a quick hummus.
If I am planning something for a couple of days in advance it's not a problem to to soak.
If a disaster happens and I've run out of packets or tins they only take a short while to do get prepared in the pressure cooker.

Personally I just don’t have time in my day to be soaking beans before being able to cook them

I seriously don't understand this. It is quicker to do than making a cup of tea. Just put them in a bowl with a bit of salt and leave them. You don't have to watch them. Use them when you need them. Sometimes I freeze them, sometime I can keep them in water for a couple of days and then use them or the following morning use them in the slow cooking.

I can and have cooked them from dry. It was a big part of weaning for my kids diet for example.

But a bean casserole wouldn't float my boat. Its either Dahl or with something else. Any veg stew or curry for me is about cauliflower. It's just down to different tastes for me.

I'm not organising enough to soak chickpeas so use tins much more than dried.

I don’t really understand, I’m not being facetious - what are you saying is the correct way to cook them? In a casserole? And that most people boil them?

sorry if I’ve misunderstood, I’m very tired!

i put lentils and beans in casseroles and stews all the time or use them to pad out other dishes - most of my friends do too. I thought this was common knowledge? I don’t know anyone who just boils them up? How would they be eaten then, boiled up then sauce or meat added?

@Toomessy come back!
we need to know how YOU cook pulses!
and, where are you from?

I mean, where are you REALLY from?

Bully for you.. Actually canned beans and lentils in this country very often can be bought with no additives, just water and salt. They are absolutely fine to use in most things though they do tend to be a bit softer than dried beans that have been cooked

As for boiling dried beans, you surely do that ( after soaking them ) before using them in a casserole

In this household we eat bean stews and chillies a couple of times a week and have done for a long time . I personally dont like them much but as DH and DS do t eat meat, needs must and all that

I checked my cupboard and I have dried green lentils, chickpeas and split peas.
I put them in soups, casseroles and shepherds pie.

No problem using them at all. 🙂

Pease pudding is a very traditional British specialty

Must make another batch

I think you are hanging out with the wrong people @Toomessy , peas and beans are a big part of traditional British food.

Making a winter stew add some soup mix www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/waitrose-soup-mix/071824-36466-36467 all supermarkets have a version (well maybe not Aldi and Lidl)

As mentioned by a PP mushy peas, bonfire peas, pease pudding, blanks and prizes are all traditional foods. www.foodsofengland.co.uk/blanksandprizes.htm

The UK is 90% self sufficient in peas. Interestingly enough, if we wanted to be self sufficient in food we would have to grow peas, a lot of peas.

Tins are quicker and easier and unless you are on baked beans they have no salt, sugar or preservatives in. Tinning is a preserving method, my grandmother used to bottle legumes for use later in the year. The last quarter of the crop can be tricky to dry in a damp Autumn.

If you want to use dried an Instant pot is amazing. Just remember to natural vent.

In some circles there does seem to be a real reluctance to eat vegetables or legumes, in many others they are as popular as they have always been.

We even name our weather after legumes, pea souper anyone?

I’ve actually lived in multiple countries including the U.K. so I think I know what the fuck I’m talking about. And yes, the U.K. is “that damp”…

@Onnabugeisha it is this year

That is why we have companies like Kilner

I never thought I would say this: but this is such a baller answer about beans.

What’s your point? Unless you’re vacuum sealing your teeny tiny kilner jar, you’re locking in that lovely 94% humidity moisture laden air in there with you split peas or lentils.

They simply do not last as long in the U.K. as they do in say northern Mexico. Can you buy lentils in 50 kg bags and munch on them for two years without them spoiling? No you cannot.

I've just got one too. Why did I not think of this?! We eat pulses and legumes every day and (apart from lentils) use canned for convenience.

I'll definitely be buying dried and using my pressure cooker from now on.

Thanks for the tip! 😁

I can keep the early harvest beans in jars of about 1.5kg for two or three years if I put a muslin bag of dried elderflower in it.

The late harvest I can bottle to keep .

The mid harvest we eat.

@SignOnTheWindow some cook even quicker.

I find split peas and black beans both take 14 mins.

Experiment, pressure cookers are great for legumes.

I sometimes cook lentils straight into casseroles and soups because they don't need soaking and take the same amount of time to cook as the rest of the dish.

I am not convinced it's worth the fuel to cook beans and chickpeas from dried, compared with a tin. There are no added sugars or preservatives in the tins I buy, just beans or chickpeas, water and salt.

You can do them in a slow cooker, which costs a pittance to run.

I calculated last year that cooking dried chickpeas and freezing them saves about 40% compared to buying cans. For other pulses that are more expensive in cans (black beans or cannellini beans, say) the saving would be greater.