Pulses quick questions thread.

Gingham_Ribbon · 22 March 2007 at 1:20PM

I'm going to start the ball rolling on this with the following question.

Does anyone buy pulses in bulk? Otherwise, have you found a very cheap way of stocking up on them?

Thanks.

Edit: It might be easier for other people to spot that a new question has been asked if you give your post a title by choosing the 'go advanced' option when posting your question and giving a putting a few words in the title bar.

overlykeensaver · 22 March 2007 at 1:24PM

great idea! We buy our chickpeas from a chinese supermarket approx £5for 5kg.
Great value compared with the main supermarkets. I tend to soak and cook approx 750g dried weight at a time and then freeze them in 300g cooked weight bags. Great for quickly adding to a casserole you realise is looking a bit lean!

I would be interested to know where others buy lentils and beans from as I can't find them as easily in bulk.

Zziggi · 22 March 2007 at 1:25PM

Often Asian grocers have big bags of lentils quite cheap. I have often seen big 1kg or 2.5kg bags dirt cheap. Although i haven't seen brown lentils or puy lentils. Was going to look on Saturday when i head over to Bradford.

Whilst we're on the subject of buying cheap - spices, exotic fruit, rice, chapatti flour, cornmeal, dried chickpeas, dried red kidney beans etc all tend to be cheap in Asian shops too. That's where i get all mine from.

Firehorse · 22 March 2007 at 1:53PM

Years ago, my mother and I used to buy them by the sack from an independant health food store in Abingdon (Oxon) and we then split it between us. So I would say any independant.

I've also recently been looking in the Suma catalogue and they look very competitive. However, there is a minimum order.

Like overlykeensaver I also soak/cook a job lot and freeze for later use. Has been invaluable over the years.

Of course, don't forget that today is Julian Graves half price sale. Although not many pulses left when I got there

happyathome_withmyboys · 22 March 2007 at 2:07PM

I've always used countryproducts.co.uk - you do have to pay p&p - but I rationalise it with savings on diesel (I'd have to drive for miles to get anything like the same prices and quantities)

Plum_Pie · 22 March 2007 at 2:12PM

Cash and Carry for me or markets.

Depends where you live though. e.g. Asian poplution near you = good deals in corner shop.

katmad99 · 22 March 2007 at 4:09PM

i have some red lentils and a bag of 'soup mix' (mix of different lentils and other pea-like bits, i'm not really sure what it all is!!) that i bought in an attempt to be healthier and OS, but to be honest i found that i dont really like the texture of soup made with lentils, and so i have no idea what to do with it all! any suggestions/your fave lentil recipes???

thanks

newlywed · 22 March 2007 at 4:18PM

katmad99 wrote: »

i have some red lentils and a bag of 'soup mix' (mix of different lentils and other pea-like bits, i'm not really sure what it all is!!) that i bought in an attempt to be healthier and OS, but to be honest i found that i dont really like the texture of soup made with lentils, and so i have no idea what to do with it all! any suggestions/your fave lentil recipes???

Red lentil and veg curry.

Just add curry paste (I use a Balti paste), water, tomatoes, and chopped veg - carrots parsnips, potato.

Boil up for 40 mins (what the lentil packet says).

Boil a bit longer if you want to make the sauce thicker.

(not a huge fan of lentils but like this they are yum

)

Wanting to know what to do with the "Soup mix" though as I have a pack of that too!!

katmad99 · 22 March 2007 at 6:47PM

thanks for the recipe newlywed, good idea. I've also thought of using the red lentils to 'pad out' bolognaise, chilli, etc. But i've always been a bit scared of the 'to soak/not to soak' issue! I'm not really sure what is necessary to use them in meals, do i soak/boil them first then add? or do i just whack them straight in and cook for ages like in the above recipe?

chika · 22 March 2007 at 7:01PM

You dont need to soak red lentils and they are great for padding things. They are full of fibre so very healthy too.

I get mine from the asian supermarket. Bargain 2kg for 99p!

Gingham_Ribbon · 22 March 2007 at 7:03PM

Morrisons do 2 soup mixes. One is a 'country soup' mix or broth mix. The other is something different and contains dried pasta. I haven't tried the second kind. This is what I do with the country soup mix. If it's got pasta in it I wouldn't make broth though. Maybe cook it with tomato sauce and basil?

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Pulses quick questions thread.

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