What made these red lentils 'brick' together?
The lentils in the above photo are raw. They did not form a solid block when they were dry, but after I poured a bit of water in, they suddenly did this.
Obviously, they need a bit of washing. Red lentils stick to the pan easily.
Best Answer
Red lentils have no skin and are thus more absorbent. They literally sucked up the wee bit of water clinging to them along with their neighbors. Surface tension of the water couldn't be broken by the light-weight pulses.
When crumbled apart, the brick doesn't feel pasty, no?
Next time maybe pour lentils into water; either way, no harm to finished dish.
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Why do lentils stick together?
Red lentils have no skin and are thus more absorbent. They literally sucked up the wee bit of water clinging to them along with their neighbors. Surface tension of the water couldn't be broken by the light-weight pulses. When crumbled apart, the brick doesn't feel pasty, no?Why are there pebbles in lentils?
It is not unheard of for small pebbles, or pieces of the pod the lentils came in to find their way into the drying process. There is also occasionally a lentil (or bean) that was a bit dodgy before it was dried. These usually appear as discolored lentils, which should be thrown away.Do lentils have stones?
It's possible that there are small pebbles in your bag of lentils. It's best to be safe and rinse and sift through them before cooking, because no one wants to break a tooth by biting down on a rock.How do you know when lentils have gone bad?
How To Tell if Cooked Lentils Are Spoiled?How to Cook Red LentiL ?
More answers regarding what made these red lentils 'brick' together?
Answer 2
If they got wet, and were not washed, they likely had some kind of starch on them that turned to paste, thus binding those little guys into a brick.
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