I love lentils but usually have them when I eat out etc. I would really love to cook them at home but totally confused on the soaking thing. I have a pack of split yellow peas, packet says soak for 12 hrs then boil 10 mins then cook 30 mins!
Internet says no need to soak split peas...Confused and am told can be dangeriuos to make a mistake with cooking such food.
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Need help with split yellow peas
(25 Posts)Stick to red lentils - no soaking and they cook really fast
I would do whatever it says on the packet. They might be like red kidney beans - highly dangerous if not boiled for ten minutes.
The "cook for 30 mins" bit is probably to give them time absorb flavours from whatever recipe you are using.
I've always treated yellow split peas the same as red lentils, and they've always behaved the same. I think they're pretty much interchangeable.
Rose Elliott in her 1979 Bean Book says to chuck them in a pan with plenty of water, bring to the boil and simmer until tender (approx 30 mins, she says). So, same as red lentils.
I might go with this (from the Mayo Clinic!)
"Gas-free soak. In a stockpot, place 1 pound of beans in 10 or more cups of boiling water. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Then cover and set aside overnight. The next day 75 to 90 percent of the indigestible sugars that cause gas will have dissolved into the soaking water."
I know they're not beans, but still............
You can buy tins of Puy lentils-takes the worry out of things
But those indigestible things are good for us jo - they feed the gut bacteria which produce various things - Vitamin K etc.
I was musing about pea and ham soup today. Ham hock, yellow peas (soaked), a few veg. Yum.
I seem to remember using them to make pease pudding as well. Anyone make pease pudding?
What we need is Indian or Pakistani Gran to come and give us benefit of advice at this point, as there are intriguing range of pulses in the Indian Supermarket.
I think the poison problem only applies to red kidney beans. I always used tinned beans, although I do use dry lentils, just chuck them in a saucepan and boil, with some other ingrediants for lentil soup or dhall.
I was thinking of others jess.
Just a hint - I have heard that adding salt at the beginning of cooking causes them to be tough, it needs to be put in at the end.
I have never attempted to cook any type of lentil, nor tasted them, they don't appeal to me.
They don't taste of a lot shysal - they thicken soups well.
Puy lentils are my favourite -specially good with salmon.Rinse well,cover with stock or vegetable water bring to boil ,simmer 15 mins.
As Stansgran said you can buy them in tins -or in sachets(ready to serve) from Waitrose
I often use yellow lentils to make Dahl. I don"t soak them but boil them for about five minutes then give them a good rinse. I put salt in once I am putting in the other spices. If I can find the recipe I could post it after Christmas, not that I ever follow it (the recipe) exactly.
They do take along while to cook and never put salt in until they have become soft. A long soak is best but I cook them in my pressure cooker.
Split pea soup (aka yellow soup in our house) was always a favourite.
There are lots of recipes on the internet.
Split peas and yellow lentils aren't the same. Split peas take longer, when I make Dahl with yellow lentils the cooking time is around an hour.
Wish you had not mentioned Pea and Ham soup jess.
Drooling now.
And as you say those pulses are a power house of nutrition.
A lovely lentil soup can be made in no time at all. Just add what you like.
Onions, garlic, peppers , apricots what ever you fancy.
But.. Pea and Ham soup is something else. This requires a lot of attention and is to die for. Not just a soup. Almost a meal.
Just finish with some nice bread and cheese.
The Dutch are famous for their Pea and Ham soup.
P.S My recipe is the best.
Thank you guys, so there is a difference between lentils and split peas--its ok to cook lentils But need to soak yellow and green split peas. I soaked yellow split peas over night then boiled ten mins then cooked for 30 minutes--I have eaten loads and am still alive, and I accidentally found that if you mash it, it tastes like peas pudding!! Thank you so much for all your help x x
So, er, johanna, why can't I find your recipe for this culinary treat in the food section?
Pea and ham soup is indeed delectable. It is also salty because of the ham being cured in brine. Any ideas for a lower salt version folks? A few bacon bits not the same at all.
Incidentally, re the gas producing properties, because I am writing about gut bacteria at the moment, I have become very aware of the variations. Hummus for instance - just a little makes my inner ecosystem very happy. If they had party balloons down there they would be filling them up and cheering as they release them into the sky. Apparently the gases are hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide (new fact I learned this week). However my little friends are quite well behaved and don't upset the neighbours with the fumes from their party barbecue.
There are a couple of things that, in the past, have caused the little darlings to have a really wild night, producing fumes that have the potential to empty an entire open plan office.
1. Onions that have been picked too soon. The leaves need to really go brown and dried. If you pick them and eat them too soon the whole family turns into a pollution incident. Occasionally you get this effect from shop onions in the early autumn.
2. Jerusalem artichokes. Delicious, earthy little vegetables that produce an innocent looking sunflower to grace your allotment or garden. Before eating clear diary and go into a solitary retreat.
I do a version with leftover sausages and lentils. I cook the sausages in a large Le Creuset casserole pan, lidded, in the oven. I remove the sausages for the meal and then pour water into the pan and stick it on the hob. The meat juices and fats (amount of fat (and salt) depends on your type of sausages) are thus cleaned off the pan at the same time as providing you with a soup base. Chuck in your lentils and whatever vegetables are kicking around (usually onions and carrots at a minimum, but often a bit of cabbage, celery, woteva). I often add half a cup of tomato puree or a tin of chopped tomates. Whizz all in a blender. Then, if you have any cold sausages, chop them up small and add. It's very tasty and nourishing. Also, very satisfying in a waste not want not sort of way.
Leftover sausages. Endangered species in this house.
Wondered for a moment about the exotic woteva vegetable you have in Scotland.
Time for a strong coffee I think.
When we lived in Holland, my Dutch next door neighbour taught me to make pea soup, with dried green peas and smoked pork sausage. It is one of their national dishes. It was delicious but I've lost the recipe she gave me. If I find it, I'll put it on here. My mother used to make ham hock or bacon bone soup with dried split peas and red lentils. I can't remember her ever doing the boil for ten minutes thing (she never read packets anyway, but in those days everything was weighed into paper bags), and if you do boil rapidly for ten minutes, the whole lot goes to mush. You can't seem to get bacon bones any more. They make delicious soup and stock.
I boil up pork chop bones sometimes. Not quite the same but a good substitute.
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