So as I mentioned above, the minimum time that you have to soak chickpeas is ideally 5 to 6 hours. For best results, you can soak the chickpeas overnight. So if you soak them in water at night before going to sleep, you can drain the water in the morning to use them in recipes.
Long soaking method.
This is easy to do but takes a little bit of planning. Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with water by a good few inches then leave them overnight (8 to 24 hours).
Method 1: Traditional soak
Place the bowl in the fridge and leave the chickpeas to soak overnight (anywhere from 8-24 hours). It's not recommended to soak chickpeas or other pulses in the fridge for much longer than 48 hours, as they may start to ferment.
Slow soaking dried chickpeas: Tip them into a bowl and cover with cold water, and use plenty of water as they will swell as they soak. Leave overnight or for 8-12 hours to absorb water and swell. Adding bicarbonate of soda can help the soaking process, especially if you live in a hard water area.
Soak 1/2 cup dried chickpeas for 12 hours. Drain, rinse, and add the soaked chickpeas to a pot. Cover by a few inches with water, and add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook at a simmer until tender, about 90 minutes to 2 hours.
Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover completely with cold water. Allow to soak overnight, or about 12 hours. A teaspoon of baking soda can be added to aid with the soaking process, but plain water for 12 hours tends to work just fine.
– Set aside for about an hour. In an insulated casserole, the chickpeas should soak in an hour. In any other container, it may take about 2-3 hours.
For the quick soak method, add the beans to a large pot, cover them with several inches of water and bring them to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes then take the pot off of the heat and let the beans sit in the water for 1 hour.
No, you don't have to soak beans before you cook them. If you forget, you can simply start the cooking process, but expect them to take longer to cook than if you had soaked them first. It can take up to twice the time if you don't soak them first.
Cook in the Stockpot
If you forgot to soak chickpeas overnight, don't worry. You need nothing more than water and a stockpot or large saucepan. Put rinsed chickpeas in the pot, add 3 cups of water for every 1 cup of beans, and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.
From Cook's Illustrated: Dissolve 3 tablespoons salt in 4 quarts cold water in large bowl or container. Add [one pound] beans and soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Drain and rinse well.
If you are using canned chickpeas, drain and rinse them with water to cut the sodium (salt) content by almost a half. Rinse well in cold water to make them easier to digest and less gas-producing.
If you forgot to soak your beans the night before you plan to cook them, the hot soak method can come to the rescue. Cover the beans with water, bring to a boil and boil for three minutes. Remove them from the heat and let them soak in the hot water for an hour. Then drain, rinse, add fresh water and cook.
Chickpeas are soaked before boiling for two reasons – one, they need to be softened before they boil, and two, pre-soaking helps to make the beans more digestible. You can soak them quickly, as described below, or overnight if you prefer.
Add (uncooked) chickpeas to a large pot and cover with 2 inches water. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil for 1 minute. Then cover, remove from heat, and let sit for 1 hour. This is a quick method.
Try this trick: In a pan add 1 cup of water and bring it to a rolling boil. Transfer the water to a pot with a lid or an air tight container and quickly add washed chole to it. Cover the lid with a heavy object and seal in the chole and water as quickly as possible.
Soak & prepare the chickpeas
1. Rinse 1 cup chickpeas (chole) very well in a pot. Then soak them in ample amount of water overnight or at least for 8 hours. To get darker chole, I simmer half tsp tea powder or 1 black tea bag in 3 cups water for a while.
You can make the curries easily without soaking rajma or chole, just follow the process. It is a very useful trick for everyone.
However if you forget to soak, you can still pressure cook them for 45 mins at high pressure. I made these Sookha Kala Chana in the Instant Pot. You can find these on Amazon or in an Indian grocery store (much cheaper). The traditional way is to pressure cook the kala chana in ample water.
Beans should not be soaked for longer than 12 hours.
Some say that beans should be only be soaked for 4 hours, but 12 hours is the upper limit. If you soak the beans for longer than 12 hours, you run the risk of the beans losing both their characteristic flavor and texture.
To soak beans the traditional way, cover them with water by 2 inches, add 2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt (or 1 tablespoon fine salt) per pound of beans, and let them soak for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours. Drain them and rinse before using.