Chickpeas in the Pressure Cooker

[KatyCooks]

Okay, so it's the weekend and I am back to experimenting with my pressure cooker.

First up this evening, is cooking some chickpeas to make Hummus. I found a recipe online specifically for cooking unsoaked, dried chickpeas, but the amounts were far too much - a pound of chickpeas! So, I am doing a quarter of the recipe in hopes that that will still work and the ratios won't be thrown out. So, I am cooking 4oz of unsoaked chickpeas in 1.5 cups of water.) The recipe says to cook for 50 minutes and then do a slow release (which seems like a very long time), but that's what the recipe says, so we shall see! My plan is just to cook the chickpeas this evening and then make the hummus tomorrow. (It's been a fairly demanding week at work, so I am feeling lazy this evening!)

Then on Sunday, I have a recipe for Lamb Tagine in the pressure cooker. Wish me luck!

I will report back on both - good or bad!

 

[pepperhead212]

That sounds about how I would cook them, for making hummus - you want them quite soft, for things like that. I would probably cook 40 minutes for salads and things like that, where I want them more firm.

If I can think of it in advance, I try to soak chickpeas, esp. black chickpeas, in advance, since they need more cooking than most other legumes.

 

[KatyCooks]

I have just opened the lid and they are beautifully cooked! (Don't know why I feel so surprised.)

Very pleasing!

Pepperhead, I assume that the soaking means a bit less time in the pressure cooker? Or is there another reason why you prefer to soak them first?

 

[pepperhead212]

Yes, @KatyCooks , after soaking 8 hours (I usually start it in the morning), it takes probably half the cooking time, and even less time, when you do that so-called "overnight" soaking. Overnight is usually muck longer, unless you are cooking in the morning! Also, an advantage of soaking is that you get rid of some of the oligosaccharides when you dump out the water, and rinse them. And two ways of soaking: one, adds 1/2 tsp baking soda to 6 c water, for 2 c legumes, to soak overnight. The other, uses salt, or brining the beans - 2 qts water with 2 tb kosher salt (or 1 1/2 tb table salt). This has the advantage of slightly firming the skins, and keeps most of them on the beans - doesn't really matter much, with hummus, or other ground up beans, but it's definitely better with salads, or other dishes where you don't want all those skins floating around!

 

[KatyCooks]

Very interesting @pepperhead212 The user manual for my PC says "do not use salt" when cooking as it will toughen the skins. (It also says to add a small amount of oil or fat to reduce "foaming".) I assume "foaming" in a Pressure Cooker is a bad thing so I added a teaspoon of butter when I cooked my chickpeas. All I can say is I have no floating skins (which I always find in tinned chickpeas and have to pick out because they aren't pleasant) and my chickpeas are about as perfect as I could wish for!

I have had to put the chickpeas in the fridge with a cover as I was starting to nibble on them... (they make rather nice snacks) and I maybe completely biased, but the ones you cook yourself rather than the tinned, seem just a little bit nicer....

 

[Badjak]

I agree with home cooked being much nicer than tins!
They freeze well, so next time, just do a big batch and they are great in curries.
I did have similar queries to yours and I decided to check water uptake by soaking and cooking.
The chickpeas I had basically took up their own weight in water after soaking, and only a minimal amount during cooking (after soaking).

 

[GotGarlic]

Very interesting @pepperhead212 The user manual for my PC says "do not use salt" when cooking as it will toughen the skins. (It also says to add a small amount of oil or fat to reduce "foaming".) I assume "foaming" in a Pressure Cooker is a bad thing so I added a teaspoon of butter when I cooked my chickpeas.

Congrats on your success! ? I just wanted to mention that the reason to avoid foaming in the pressure cooker is that it can clog the steam vent, which can interfere with the operation of the cooker. That's also why they suggest not filling it too much.

I have had to put the chickpeas in the fridge with a cover as I was starting to nibble on them... (they make rather nice snacks) and I maybe completely biased, but the ones you cook yourself rather than the tinned, seem just a little bit nicer....

I think lots of things are better homemade than store-bought. It just depends on whether you think it's worth the time and effort to make it yourself. A pressure cooker is a really handy device. I should use mine more. I bought a bag of dried yellow hominy to use in my pozole verde (Mexican green pork and hominy stew).

 

[pepperhead212]

@KatyCooks I often put a little oil in the pot, to reduce that foaming, especially with lentils. And another thing that helps, especially with lentils, or dal, is rinsing very well. It's good to rinse any legumes, but the split and hulled lentils - red lentils or masoor dal, chana dal, mung dal, urad dal - have a lot more starch on the surface, since their hull has been removed. Rinsing several times, until water is almost clear, helps with the foaming, but the oil also helps.
I also think the ones I cook from dry are better than canned, and with chickpeas, especially. I did buy canned black beans and kidney beans, but when the prices went up a while back (almost doubled, around here), I totally stopped buying them! It is surprising how little dry beans is the equivalent of one of those 15 oz cans! Besides hummus, I make a lot of different bean dips, and a half cup of dried lentils would give me more than one of those cans worth of paste - a scant half cup was about equal to a can.

I usually cook more than I need of the large beans, if it's a small amount, and just put the rest in the fridge. I never thought about freezing it, like @Badjak suggested, but that's good to know that it freezes well!

 

[KatyCooks]

As promised, I am reporting back on the Lamb Tagine I made today. This is the recipe I used: https://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-moroccan-lamb-tajine/

I cooked my lamb (which I cut into roughly 1in chunks) for 30 minutes and they came out utterly succulent and delicious! Very impressed indeed!

Not sure how authentic the recipe is, but I must say it is really tasty! (I served it with some couscous with a little bit of lemon zest and tiny bit of garlic, and I tossed through some peas and broccoli.)

I am now 100% sold on using a Pressure Cooker.

Really helpful tips and suggestions @Badjak @pepperhead212 and @GotGarlic

Definitely worth cooking larger quantities and freezing.

@GotGarlic I am interested in your pork and hominy recipe - though I can't get hominy here, presumably I could substitute something else - do you have the recipe by any chance? (Pork is my next challenge in the PC!)

 

[GotGarlic]

@GotGarlic I am interested in your pork and hominy recipe - though I can't get hominy here, presumably I could substitute something else - do you have the recipe by any chance? (Pork is my next challenge in the PC!)

Sure! I posted it several years ago. I haven't made it in my pressure cooker, but it would work fine. You can replace the hominy with canned sweet corn: Posole Verde - Green Pork & Hominy Stew

 

[KatyCooks]

Thanks very much GG! I have saved the recipe and noted that I can use tinned sweetcorn instead of the hominy. I also won't be able to get Tomatillos - so can I just use tomatoes instead or would you suggest something else that would be closer in terms of taste/texture? Oh, and how many does this recipe serve? I think I will need to cut the quantities down.

 

[GotGarlic]

Thanks very much GG! I have saved the recipe and noted that I can use tinned sweetcorn instead of the hominy. I also won't be able to get Tomatillos - so can I just use tomatoes instead or would you suggest something else that would be closer in terms of taste/texture? Oh, and how many does this recipe serve? I think I will need to cut the quantities down.

This is probably 12 servings. I make a half recipe myself these days.

Tomatoes are a completely different flavor, but I did a search and you can use this instead. You would probably need two jars. I saw that there are a couple specialty online retailers that sell fresh Mexican produce, but this will work, too.

 

[KatyCooks]

Wow, you looked up Sainsburys! I had no idea they did this (though I have seen this brand there) - I will visit the Mexican section on my next visit and pick up a couple of jars of this. (It will be very interesting to see what Tomatillo tastes like.) Thanks for the recipe and the research GG - I will report back on your recipe as done in the PC in due course.

 

[GotGarlic]

Looking forward to hearing what you think about it, Katie! ?

 

[taxlady]

GG, thanks for reminding me of that recipe. I didn't copy it before, because it was too much effort to try to get tomatillos. But, now I can order them with my produce basket, in season. I even have some in my freezer. I assume that the 822 gram can of hominy that I can get is pretty darned close to the right size.

 

[KatyCooks]

Looking forward to hearing what you think about it, Katie! ?

Hi @GotGarlic I have acquired the Tomatillo Salsa so will be making this next weekend.

I was just looking at the recipe though and one of the steps says:

Use a slotted spoon or spider to remove the pork from the pot

So, given that I am not going to be looking up "spider" online due to my utter terror of them, what is a "spider" pray tell?

This has nothing to do with me making the dish of course, as I will use a slotted spoon - I am just very curious!

 

[dragnlaw]

A round stiff wire net on a long handle (usually bamboo) became popular from asian cooking. Actually a sort of sieve on a handle, used to pull things out of liquids. I'll try to find a picture.

 

[dragnlaw]

here yuh go...

 

[KatyCooks]

Oh right! Well it's like a spider web I guess! LOL

 

[dragnlaw]

Very handy actually. Much faster than a slotted spoon. Picks up more and drains quickly. Look in the kitchen section of your local ironmongers.