Cooking Lentils
Posted by wayneshep! on Dec 20, 2008 · Member since Nov 2008 · 379 posts
Aaaargh!!!! I use lentils in a lot of the recipes I use from this website but it seems like I can never do it right. I almost always get a mixture of mushy goo and lentils that are still hard! I've tried stiring them while they cook and adding more h2o if there are ones that are not done... any suggestions? :-[
Some lentils need presoaking, others don't. Try presoaking yours by covering the lentils with boiling water, covering the pot and letting them stand for an hour before cooking, and see if that helps.
Red lentils and some other types are split, so they will cook down to mush anyway. Whole lentils though it depends on the type. If they are very hard, you might pressure-cook them if you have a pressure cooker, or put them in a crockpot and cook them long and slow...at least in the crock they won't stick.
if you're just trying to incorporate some in to get the taste of them, etc, while you learn how to cook them to perfection per YG's instructions/guidelines, might I suggest Trader Joe's already cooked lentils? Either eat them cold (as is) or you can warm them.
I sorta like mine a lil mushy, but that's because I just mush 'em in with other stuff anyway.
Happy lentiling!
Thanx yabbit, I have the same problem & thought it was just me.
Anywhoo, I have another question about lentils. My red lentils always lose their colour after cooking them. Why? I made Red Lentil Soup which for the record is delicious, but once again my lentils totally lost their colour. I was disappointed.
All I can find out about red lentils in my culinary class books is that they turn yellow when cooked and fall apart to make a puree....so maybe it is just the nature of that particular lentil?
I don't see any red lentils in the picture, although the picture is very pretty :-\
All I can find out about red lentils in my culinary class books is that they turn yellow when cooked and fall apart to make a puree....so maybe it is just the nature of that particular lentil?
I trust Jane
We cook Lentils almost daily and have a wide experience in cooking Lentils.
I need to know which Lentil you are using?
I will give you guys, step by step method to cook lentils.
NJA
NJA, I think the brand name is Bella Tavola. When I get my legumes home from the store, I store them in glass containers....so that is just a guess.
I don't see any red lentils in the picture, although the picture is very pretty :-\
All I can find out about red lentils in my culinary class books is that they turn yellow when cooked and fall apart to make a puree....so maybe it is just the nature of that particular lentil?
I trust Jane
Maybe you shouldn't ....you should read their very small chapter on vegetarians and vegan....kinda sad.
I don't see any red lentils in the picture, although the picture is very pretty :-\
All I can find out about red lentils in my culinary class books is that they turn yellow when cooked and fall apart to make a puree....so maybe it is just the nature of that particular lentil?
I trust Jane
Maybe you shouldn't ....you should read their very small chapter on vegetarians and vegan....kinda sad.
You know more than I know! Therefore, I defer to you.
http://www.sonic.net/~alden/Lentils.html
The above link is from The Chef's Thesarus. It has pictures of all the different types of lentils and some info....maybe you could match up the pictures with what you have??
Jane, I can't see any of the pictures on that site....I tried both Mozilla & IE...nothin' But I did find this,
"red lentil Notes: The most common type of red lentil is the Red Chief. It's a lovely salmon pink in its dried form, but it turns golden when cooked. These lentils cook faster than others. They're best in purées or soups. Substitutes: masoor dal OR yellow lentils OR green lentils (These hold their shapes better when cooked.) OR brown lentils"
I am assuming they are these because they change colour. Now I'd like to know which kind of red lentils will retain their colour after cooking?
Did some digging & came up with a picture
picture
Ok, I am up for it. Give me some time to research it, ok?
I love a good mystery :)>>>
I use Meijer brand lentils... it doesn't give a specific type but they're a green/brown color.
Thanks DJA and all others for the suggestions.
Sorry JessesMom but I am having very little luck so far. Read one red lentil recipe where the guy said to keep red lentils 'integrety' they should only be cooked 5 to 7 minutes. Bet those are nice and chewy.
Still need to go down to the Mid-Eastern market and the India market....I always wind up with a language barrier there though.
My red lentils are very red raw, and very yellow puree cooked. I use the Delicious Pakistani Dahl recipe from here and love it. DH refuses to touch them. Which doesn't upset me.
FTR they freeze well.
The kind I cook are either brown or green... I found pictures that look like them but one said they were brown the other said green so here are links to the picks.
http://katskitchentalk.blogspot.com/2007/07/lenil-soup.html
http://www.angryalmond.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=15
So if someone can identify then tell me how to fix my problem it would be greatly appreciated. :)
Oh yeah--definitely try the quick-soak with those. Or if you're planning on making some "for tomorrow" put them to soak overnight in cold water...but I always forget so I do the boiling-water-for-an-hour thing.
Thanx Jane, it really doesn't matter if my lentils lose their colour or not. I love them no matter what colour they are.
yabbit, that's the trouble with beans. You really need to plan your menus ahead, which is something I seldom do.
Hmmm... It could just be that you need to cook them on a lower temperature for a longer period of time. Usually when I end up with half hard/half mushy lentils it is because I had the heat up too high and cooked them too quickly. That happened to me yesterday, actually. I am sure soaking would help too, though. I haven't tried that yet. Thanks yabbit.