Do I need to soak lentils?
Regardless of the type of legumes, they must be washed. To do this, pour them with cold water and filter through a sieve. Then they proceed depending on the variety and the result that needs to be obtained.
Miss Clean magazine recommends soaking any variety of lentils, but for different lengths of time. The operation allows you to dissolve the inhibitor phytic acid, which interferes with the absorption of some valuable minerals, in particular calcium, and causes bloating.
Do I need to soak?
Any legumes, regardless of variety, need to be washed. To do this, fill them with cold water and strain through a sieve. Any lentils need to be soaked, but for different times. This procedure will get rid of phytic acid, which interferes with the absorption of calcium and other valuable minerals, and also causes bloating.
REFERENCE! It is recommended not to cook green and brown lentils at all after soaking: if the beans do not lose their shape and remain a little harsh, the taste will be higher. We simply rinse the grains and immediately place them in the salad bowl.
How to soak lentils
To soak the lentils, pour them in so as to cover the beans with water and leave. The room should be warm, about 25° C. On average, lentils require 10 hours for phytic acid to be completely neutralized.
In what water
The main condition is the water temperature. It should be room temperature, approximately 20-24 degrees. If you take it hot, the beans will lose their presentable appearance. If it's cold, the process will take longer.
For better effect, add lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to the water (no more than 1 tablespoon per glass of liquid).
How much time
For quick-cooking varieties, 3-5 hours are enough. Hard ones need up to 10 hours.
Important After soaking, the cooking time is reduced by 2-3 times.
How to soak overnight
To get an almost finished dish free of inhibitor by morning, you should soak the lentils for 8 hours or more. “Warm” varieties do not tolerate this procedure very well, but hard ones (brown, brown, all French) are ideal. They need to be left overnight in acidified water, and in the morning they will cook in 15-20 minutes.
It is permissible not to cook green and brown lentils for salad after overnight soaking, since the taste of the dish will be better if the beans retain their shape and are slightly tough. In this case, just rinse the lentils and place them in a salad bowl.
How to soak?
When soaking, first of all, you need to pay attention to the water. It should be at room temperature. Add lemon juice or apple cider vinegar into the liquid. If you take it hot, the appearance of the lentils will deteriorate. Cold water will greatly slow down the entire process. For quick-cooking varieties, 4 hours of soaking is enough; for hard varieties, it can take up to 10 hours.
REFERENCE! During World War II, Americans were encouraged to eat lentils to support the economy, because these beans are not only tasty, but also quite cheap.
How to cook soaked lentils
Red lentils are the fastest to cook. It's not great for soup, but it makes a good puree. Cook red lentils without soaking for no more than 15 minutes. And after the procedure - no more than 5-10 minutes. Therefore, if whole grains are needed in the soup, they are thrown into the boiling broth at the end of cooking.
The pink variety is similar to the red one and is treated the same way.
The orange type is a little tougher, but in terms of cooking it is no different.
Yellow lentils also boil quickly; their main difference is that they swell greatly. Therefore, it produces an airy, very tender puree. For meatballs, after cooking, leave the beans on the switched off stove, under the lid, for another 5 minutes, so that the mass increases in volume.
Canadian black varieties - beluga - are considered to be medium in terms of boiling speed. This is a specially bred variety, and is not yet often found on shelves, so purchasing it is worth the effort. Beluga is often used to decorate dishes, salads and sandwiches. Prolonged soaking will deform the grains and ruin their beautiful appearance. Without soaking in water, the variety takes 20 minutes to cook, so for salad it only needs 3 hours and cooking for a maximum of 10 minutes.
Interesting fact: Black Canadian lentils were called beluga because the beans resemble grains of black caviar.
Green lentils are firm. If you soak it for an hour, cooking will take 30 minutes. If the beans are kept in acidified water longer, 15-20 minutes will be enough. To preserve the integrity of the lentils, the cooking time can be reduced.
The brown variety is the slowest. It's ideal for soaking overnight, but will still cook until pureed in about 30 minutes.
Brown (something between brown and green) is more similar to brown in terms of cooking technology and also requires soaking before cooking.
French varieties are also quite hard. Their incredible subtle taste is unique and requires no seasoning. For the salad, it is recommended to soak them in salted water acidified with lemon juice for 8 hours and then do not boil them, but only rinse them.
Many chefs believe that soaking worsens the taste of French lentils and recommend boiling them immediately for 30-45 minutes.
Even after cooking, the beans remain slightly hard, this is the specificity of this crop. Therefore, delicious pilaf and soups are obtained from the French variety.
Tip Lentils cook faster in fresh water. If you need to boil the beans, add salt at the end of cooking, and immediately to preserve the integrity of the shells.
Lentils, unlike beans, cook faster and easier, and there is slightly less phytic acid in their shells. Therefore, it is not necessary to soak it all night, but it is convenient: in the morning, just throw the beans in boiling water and wait at least 5 and maximum 30 minutes. And you have a nutritious dish on your table that will not cause heaviness or bloating, but will release all its beneficial substances completely and be easily absorbed by the body.
One of the titled queens of dietary and healthy nutrition is lentils. This is the most ancient type of legume; people have been eating it with pleasure since the Bronze Age, i.e. 4000 BC
This product is rich in amino acids, minerals and vitamins. Vegetarians equate it to meat due to its high content of vegetable protein.
This type of grain has an amazing property: lentils do not absorb or accumulate harmful toxic substances found in the soil, so they can safely be called an environmentally friendly product.
How to cook lentils after soaking?
Soaking allows you to reduce the time spent on cooking several times, but much will depend on the type of cereal.
- Red and pink ones cook the fastest. The varieties are not suitable for soup, but are ideal for making purees.
- Yellow lentils also cook quickly, but unlike red lentils they swell greatly. To allow the mass to increase in volume, after cooking, leave the beans for another 5 minutes on the hot stove.
- Black varieties have an average cooking speed. They are quite rare in retail sales.
- White lentils are used for salads and for decorating ready-made dishes. It cooks for 20 minutes.
- Brown beans take the longest to cook. They can be safely left in water overnight and then boiled for 30-40 minutes.
Soaking lentils is quite convenient: in the morning, all you have to do is throw the beans into water, wait a little, and a tasty and nutritious dish will appear on the table.
Product Matrix: Lentils
