How do I prepare dried chickpeas

[bananaknickers]

Do i boil/soak ? Really haven't a clue. I brought a bag and it seemed like a good idea at the time. I also have lentils and don't know how to do those. You help would be great.

With chickpeas, definitely soak, ideally for 24 hours before use ( in cold water, plus you can add a dash of bicarb to soften the skins). Then discard the soaking water, put in a fresh pan and boil for around 1 and a half hours - check after 1 hour - but they sometimes take as much as 3 hours if the chickpeas are old. Top up the water if necessary while they are cooking. Undercooked chickpeas can give you a horrible tummyache.

But it's worth it. Freshly cooked chickpeas are delicious. Use to make your own houmous ( blitz with a lot of lemon juice, a spoonful of tahini, a good amount of salt and some water and a crushed garlic clove in a blender) or make the chickpea and pasta soup in Nigella's How to Eat.

Lentils are easy peasy by comparison No soaking and cook for only around half an hour until done ( depending on whether they are green, red etc). I usually add a bayleaf to the water but you don't have to.

Gosh chickpeas are hard work. Thanks for advice. I will have to be more organised.I will go and soak them now.

all dried lentils need soaking apart from red lentils, or they take hours to cook. rinse them too, before soaking and pull out any black ones.

what lentils do you have?

I have green ones at the moment

def put the bicarb in, i left it out and they were not half as nice. if the cps aren't too old it often takes less than 24hours, you can see when they're ready to cook as they are full sized. they are million times nicer than tinned too.

never soaked green (puy type) lentils and find they cook in about half an hour, i will try soaking next time.

For the chickpeas, you can also soak by putting them in a pan with plenty of water, bringing it to the boil, then remove from heat, cover and leave for about two hours. Then drain and give a quick rinse in cold water and boil in fresh water until cooked. How long they take to cook till tender depends on how old they are.

Or if you cook in a pressure cooker they don't need soaking at all, it's much quicker and uses less fuel too.

I've never soaked any type of lentils, even large green or Puy lentils cook in less than 30 mins.

Chickpeas are a nightmare even if it is worth it. IME it tends to involve soaking for 6 years or so, then boiling all day and all night until the condensation is running down your kitchen walls. I had an enthusiastic attempt a few years ago and now I get tinned ones - it's probably less of a waste of cooking gas tbh...

Chickpeas are great, it's really not that much fuss. Bicarb not necessary at all. They are so much nicer than tinned ones. I rarely have to cook them more than 1 1/2 hours, 2 hours would be exceptional.