26
PULSES
Dried beans, peas and lentils are cooked at the highest pressure, then usually allowed to
stand until the pressure releases naturally from the cooker. Pulses should be washed and
drained well before cooking. There is no need to pre-soak lentils, but soaking pulses will
reduce their cooking time by 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the variety. Remember that
pulses expand during cooking, so don’t overfill the Pressure Cooker: as a guide, only
one-third fill it with pulses and water. 1 teaspoon of butter or vegetable oil for every
half-cup of pulses to prevent foaming. Don’t add salt as this will make the pulses hard.
The cooking times chart above offers a guide to cooking times for pulses which have NOT
been soaked overnight. Tenderness after cooking will vary according age and moisture
content. Pulses may appear to store well for lengthy periods, but they do dry out over
time. It’s best to buy little and often and keep them in the fridge or, even better, soak
them overnight, drain and freeze in portion sizes ready for pressure cooking.
FROZEN FOOD
Long thawing times can be reduced to minutes, but this depends on the type and size of
the food you are thawing. Thawing in the Pressure Cooker is good for retaining vitamins,
minerals and flavour in your food.
Black beans 6
2
Borlotti beans
30
2
Butter beans
40
2
Chickpeas
45
2
Lentils
8
2
Red kidney beans
30
2
Soya beans
35
2
Split peas
20
2
White beans
30
2
PULSES
MINUTES POSITION
Summary of Contents for 18434
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