Fermenting beans and lentil...where to even start?

[Yulia_R]

Hi mamas,

I have not done ANY fermenting before, therefore it's a very new and unknown area to me. But I keep reading just how much better fermented food is and I want to slowly start fermenting.

How do I even start? How hard is it? Are beans and lentil get soft after fermenting? How long does it take to ferment it? Do you have any easy recipes as far as fermenting black beans and red lentil?

Thanks in advance!

yulia

[tanyalynn]

I don't know any normal recipes with fermented beans, but if you want to make a tasty English-muffin type thing (in a loose sense), I like this recipe for making idlis, it's fermented rice and dal.

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.co...-ix-idlis.html

[Yulia_R]

I was under impression that the whole point of fermenting is that you don't cook it afterwards. Is it incorrect?

[BedHead]

I finally bought Wild Fermentation and am just starting the section on beans/legumes/pulses. He gives the method for making miso, but also says you can use ANY bean for it. He also says it takes over a year (!)

I've done sauerkraut before, so I think I'm going to start with that again, and also try kimchee. They're pretty simple and only take a week until you can enjoy them

And no, you do not cook fermented veggies! That kills all the good-for-you micro organisms in them!

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by Yulia_R

I was under impression that the whole point of fermenting is that you don't cook it afterwards. Is it incorrect?

It depends on what your purpose is. I don't cook my kimchee, that would kill all my lovely bacteria, but when I'm soaking and/or fermenting grains/legumes, my purpose is to make the nutrients more digestible (reducing other chemicals that block absorption). So cooking isn't a problem for that, but it is killing the bacteria that helped with this process. I've never made an uncooked grain/legume dish.

[Yulia_R]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

It depends on what your purpose is. I don't cook my kimchee, that would kill all my lovely bacteria, but when I'm soaking and/or fermenting grains/legumes, my purpose is to make the nutrients more digestible (reducing other chemicals that block absorption). So cooking isn't a problem for that, but it is killing the bacteria that helped with this process. I've never made an uncooked grain/legume dish.

Make sense. thanks!