Yellow Split Peas

[MEgirl]

Has anyone been able to make yellow split peas go soft.

I have a pack of Natco peas. The recipe on the packet says to cook for 20 minutes but they are still hard/crunchy (actually, an hour later and they are still crunchy).

Is it possible to cook these so that they go soft or does this type of pea simply not soften up.

I always do them in the pressure cooker. They do go soft for me and make lovely daal. Try adding bicarb?

Did you boil them or just bung them into a casserole?

I made an Indian type recipe. Fried onions, then added some spices, followed by tomatoes then the peas and water. Tastes fine, just not soft.

Forgot to say that I cooked it in a deep skillet. Plenty of space for everything including the water.

I soak them in water for about 8 hours before rinsing and boiling them.

You have to soak and then boil, before adding to anything.

The packet says no soaking needed but I'll try it that way next time. If it doesn't work I'll try a different brand. The Persian rice I made went well. Could have eaten twice as much of that and left the peas. DH had to have some though ;-(

If you soak them they will be soft if you boil them for about 40 minutes. If you dont soak they will probably be a bit crunchy.

You could bring them to the boil and then leave them for about an hour in the water. Don't add salt until they are soft as that makes pulses tough.

Rinse them , then soak overnight. Discard the water and boil for about 40 mins - I do this in the microwave.

Then add the pulses to what you're cooking (curry or whatever) and keep boiling till they're soft.

It takes much longer than 20 mins to get them soft, even if you soak them first. 20 mins would be about right for red split lentils, but can't imagine most other pulses going soft in anything like that time.

You don't need to soak them, but I think they'd need 30-40 minutes of cooking.

I have just made a dhal with them in, and they are semi soft, after 36 hours soaking and about 45 minutes cooking.