During the winter season, we get many seasonal vegetables, peas, fresh lentils, that we enjoy in abundance. I remember last year thinking about the loads of cauliflowers that come to the market. This year a small cauliflower weighing maybe about 150 gms or so costs about 18 Rs, which is very expensive. Still, that's not going to stop us from enjoying the vegetables.
Among these, fresh lentils make a big impact. We get fresh toor dal, Hyacinth Beans. Hyacinth Beans/Anapakaya which we remove the outer skin and call it Pithikina Pappu. We make pithikina Pappu kurma with it that makes an excellent side dish for Dosas.
The term "bean" originally referred to the seed of the broad bean, but was later expanded to include members of the genus Phaseolus, such as the common bean and the runner bean, and the related genus Vigna. The term is now applied generally to many other related plants such as soybeans, peas, lentils, chickpeas (garbanzos), vetches, and lupins.- Wiki
Last year we got so much of these Hyacinth Beans, that we froze for this year. We still have a batch of it left and we also got the fresh ones to the market.
Freezing the beans makes sure you have the beans for using the nonseasonal times too. It is normally done by Blanching. Blanching is a cooking technique in which food is briefly immersed in boiling water or fat. Vegetables such as green beans are often blanched in order to enhance their natural green color. Blanched vegetables are typically plunged into an ice water bath afterward to halt the cooking process.
A couple of books that I read about freezing advises about this blanching method for freezing. If you want to see how the plant and seeds look read this post from our farms.
Fresh toor dal pods
After removing it from the outer layer.
Ice water ready to be used.
Boiling water ready to be immersed.
Wash and take the beans in a muslin cloth
Tie it properly with a rope.
When the water reaches boiling point, when it starts rolling stage, immerse the pack into the hot water.
Count for 2 minutes, and remove.
Plunge it immediately into the cold water.
Remove from the cloth
Take the beans in a colander and run it through running water.
Let it stand for 10 - 15 mins.
Dry the beans in a cloth under the fan. Before packing the beans, make sure the beans are dry.
Store the beans in a zip lock cover and freeze.
My method is inspired by Chitvish of Induslady, Other interesting reads on storing and freezing, Article on blanching Vegetables with details on timing.
ANU says
very useful post dear....love it
Hari Chandana says
very helpful post.. thanks for sharing !!
Harini says
interesting! I am yet to try the blanching method.
Vandana Rajesh says
Interesting post Srivalli..in the extremely cold countries it truly becomes important to preserve vegetables in one form or the other for the winter. Nice informative post. Thks for sharing.
Suma Gandlur says
Have heard about blanching but have to try it yet.
Priya says
Wow interesting, thanks for the tips Valli.
Gayathri Kumar says
Very interesting method. I freeze green peas using a slight variation of yours...
divya says
very helpful post.. thanks for sharing !!
r says
thats a really interesting tip! very helpful, thanks for sharing
Rajani says
Thats a really interesting and useful post, thanks for sharing this
veena krishnakumar says
wow valli, this is very helpful, thnks
meera says
Hello ma'am. I followed this method for toor beans last year and they turned out very good. I wish to ask you, will you recommend the same method for Hyacinth Beans too? Do kindly tell. Thank you
Srivalli says
Yes, I have mentioned the same in the post as well. You can follow the same process. For Fresh peas though, since last year, I simply freeze it in ziplock packets. Works both blanching and direct freezing for peas alone. For other beans, you will have to blanch and ice pack before freezing.
meera says
Many thanks Srivalli. Very prompt and timely.
God bless you.
meera says
I continue to follow your method year after year and I feel good that it works so well.
Thank you and have a blessed new year Srivalli.
Srivalli says
Feels wonderful getting this feedback! Thank you so much for sharing and so glad its been working so well for you..:)