Cooking Pulses

Pulses are the seeds of leguminous plants which develop in pods, so they include peas, beans and lentils. The word usually refers to them in their dried form. Another common characteristic is that they consist of two identical parts held together by a tough outer skin. Lose or remove this and you have, for example, split peas. The outer skin may be a different colour from the inner, split elements. Once the skin is removed, the pulse cooks more quickly, but tends to collapse to a purée. Older pulses take longer to cook and do not taste as nice.