Soaking:
Quick:- "To quick soak the beans, you will need 1 hour. Place the chickpeas into the bottom of a large pot and cover with water. The chickpeas will expand to over double their size, so make sure you cover by several inches of water to allow for expansion.
- Bring the chickpeas to a boil. Let them boil for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Let the beans soak in the hot water for 1 hour.
- Drain the water and rinse the beans before cooking."
- "Before cooking, you will need to soak the beans. You can soak them overnight, if you have the time. Place them in a large bowl and cover with cold water. The chickpeas will expand to over double their size, so make sure you cover by several inches of water to allow for expansion. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let them soak overnight. Drain the water and rinse the beans before cooking."
Cooking:
On Stove:- When you are ready to cook your soaked beans, place them in a large pot and cover with several inches of water (I use about 1 quart of water per 1 cup of soaked beans). Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add salt, if desired-- I use about 1/4 teaspoon of salt per 2 quarts of water/2 cups of soaked beans. You may like more salt to taste, or none at all to keep them "au naturale."
- Let the beans cook for 60-90 minutes till desired tenderness. Certain dishes require very tender beans (like hummus), while other dishes call for firmer beans (like stews and soups that need to be cooked over long periods of time). Adjust cooking time to achieve the desired tenderness for your purposes. If you are freezing the beans, keep in mind that they will freeze best if they are on the firmer side, rather than completely soft. As you cook them, the beans will continue to expand a bit. Keep an eye on the water level and add additional water as needed to keep the beans covered.
- When the beans are fully cooked, drain in a colander and allow to cool.
Pressure Cooker:
"Place 9 cups water, 1 lb dried and rinsed chickpeas, and 1 tsp salt in a 7-quart pressure cooker (the water should cover the chickpeas and come to the 1/3 full line). Cover and lock the lid. Bring to pressure over high heat, about 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, so that you barely hear hissing from the pot. Cook for 45 minutes. Release the pressure by removing from heat and either letting pressure release naturally as pot cools or releasing pressure cap. Open carefully. Drain and serve immediately, or use in desired dish."
Rice Cooker/Steamer:
Rinse beans in colander then soak in bowl/pot of water for 4 hours. Drain and rinse. Pour beans into rice cooker, add water until water level above the beans is 3 inches. Choose a regular cycle and let cook for 1.5 hours or select the brown rice setting. Press start. Test for doneness starting at 1 hour - beans are done when tender and most of the water is absorbed. Drain beans and serve.
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Storage:
- "To store cooked beans in the refrigerator, place them in a covered airtight container or a plastic zipper bag without any additional liquid. Cooked beans will keep 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
- To store the beans longer for future use, freeze them. Remove as much moisture as possible from the beans by patting them dry with paper towels. Place the beans in Ziploc bags spread out in single layers; you don't want to pile the beans on top of each other or they will stick to each other. Freeze, laying the flat single layer down to keep the beans from freezing together. You can freeze several bags this way, one laying flat on top of another.
- Alternatively, you can spread out the beans in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment and freeze the beans for 30 minutes. Once they are firm, pour them into a plastic zipper bag or airtight container, seal, and put immediately back into the freezer. Using this method, you don't need to put the chickpeas in a single layer-- because they are already half frozen, they will not stick together.
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