Eat Healthy and Cheap
Soaking Dal and Beans
A longer soak swells the beans before they hit the pot, so they cook faster, more evenly, and gentler on digestion.
Soaking beans and lentils ahead of time lets them take up water and swell before they ever hit the pot. That means a more even cook, a more tender bite, and up to half the simmer time. It is also the traditional fix for the gas beans are known for: soaking leaches out some of the sugars responsible.
Red lentils are the exception. They arrive split and hulled already, so they cook through in twenty minutes flat and do not need a head start. Everything else in the pantry benefits, though how much depends on the shape of the bean.
| Kind | Example | Soak |
|---|---|---|
| Whole, unhulled dal | Whole masoor, whole urad | 6 to 12 hours |
| Split dal, no husk | Moong dal, toor dal | 30 minutes to 4 hours |
| Hard legumes | Chana dal, rajma (kidney beans) | Overnight, 10 to 12 hours |
Cover with at least twice their volume of water; they swell more than you expect. Drain and rinse before cooking, and start the pot in fresh water, not the soak.
Works on
- Brown lentils
- Green lentils
- Black beluga lentils
- French green lentils
- Yellow split peas
- Green split peas
- Chickpeas
- Black beans
- Pinto beans
- Kidney beans
- Cannellini beans
- Navy beans
- Great northern beans
- Adzuki beans
- Mung beans
- Black-eyed peas
- Fava beans
- Lima beans