How to Cook With Dried Pulses

Why cook from dry?

Cooking from dry allows you to infuse flavour into the beans as they rehydrate and cook via their seed hole. You can also choose the texture you prefer for your dish. The pulses should have enough of their own distinct flavour that you will not need lots of extra ingredients to complete your dish. We want to make pulses a big part of your life - a beloved and essential staple in your kitchen, just as they have been for generations in Spain. Let's celebrate the humble bean's incredible diversity, flavour and rich heritage.

Selecting pulses / Choosing pulses

For beans, look for smooth-skinned, evenly sized and evenly coloured pulses. For chickpeas and lentils, look for consistency of size and colour. Old pulses may discolour, wrinkle and hollow out. It is important to buy beans from a reliable supplier (such as Brindisa!) who can assure you they have been harvested in the previous season.

Storing pulses

To enjoy beans at their best, consume them within a year of harvest (or 18 months at most). Store them in a cool, dry, dark place below 18°C to prevent hardening, mould, or weevils, as beans are a natural and minimally treated food.

Bean Preparation & Cooking

Soaking Beans

Planning to cook beans is a joyful prospect; soak them overnight in cold water, and you can then spend all day dreaming about what you will do with them. Soaking them shortens their cooking time and allows them to cook evenly, but if you forget, don't panic! If you have a pressure cooker, you can still cook them on the day in a short time, or for double the time on the stove.

Tip: When soaking your beans, make sure you do it in a spacious bowl - the water should cover the beans by at least 5cm as larger beans, such as judiones, can plump up to double their size. Usually, 12 hours is enough.

Lentils need no soaking, so if you want to cook pulses on the day, this is your best choice.

Cooking Beans

1) When the beans are soaked, rinse them, put them in a heavy cook pot, and cover them well with fresh water.  Add the aromatics and stock ingredients of your choice: bay, dry herbs, dried pepper, onions, leek, carrots, parsnips, ginger or garlic.

Tip: Long, slow cooking is best in a terracotta pot. If you have one, it's often a better choice than a metal pan.

2) Bring the beans to a boil, reduce heat to very low and cover. Simmer gently until tender. It is important to cook beans without salt as it tends to toughen their skins. Only salt them at the end of cooking or, if you are not using them immediately, dress them in olive oil with the salt.

Tip: Use a hob diffuser to distribute heat more evenly while cooking.

3) Spoon off any froth that appears when you initially bring the water to the boil; once simmering, no more froth will appear.

Tip: To prevent the beans from breaking apart, don't stir them too much while they're cooking.

4) Cooking times vary due to the variety, the age of the beans, water hardness and how gently the pulses are simmered. Always keep an eye on your pulses as they cook and check in on their level of doneness so that you catch them at their best. New season pulses and Heirloom beans can reach optimum tenderness relatively quickly. Once you've cooked them a couple of times, you'll get to know them.

Tip: If they are being really slow to absorb liquid as they break into their first boil, throw in some cold water to halt it. This allows the bean to begin to rehydrate better. Once should be enough, but if the beans show no sign of softening, you can repeat the process.

Pulses always taste better the next day! As they sit in the fridge, the ingredients in the dish—spices, aromatics, and the beans themselves—have more time to meld together. Additionally, the starches in the beans will make the texture creamier.

Cooking Times

*Heirloom beans can reach optimum tenderness relatively quickly, so keep a close eye on them.

If you forget to soak your beans, don't panic! If you have a pressure cooker, you can still cook them on the day in about an hour and a half.

Built on Beans

"Brindisa's commitment to pulses began in 1990, when I started importing new season beans into the UK, supplying them to chefs such as Sally Clarke.

Our Spanish colleagues in Brindisa are not fazed by pulses at all; they have been Built on Beans, nourished on them daily from childhood. I love that pulses have no hierarchy in Spain: everyone eats them regularly, from the landed aristocrat to the hard-working villager, all while nourishing the land and humans who eat them. In contrast, here in the UK, they lack that widespread appeal and status. But now is the time for home cooks to become more confident and creative with cooking pulses at home." Monika Linton, Brindisa founder.