How to Peel beans using a blender

To think this method has been in use in a lot of homes for years and I am just finding out about it. When I posted my Moin Moin recipe (HERE), to be fair, some readers actually left comments saying I can peel beans in a blender but it didn’t register well at the time because I had no plans to make any dish that required peeling beans. because of the tedious nature, subconsciously I only make any dish requiring peeled beans only a handful of times a year.

Due to my obsession with making Akara healthier and to also make Ekuru, I decided to finally give this method a try and to say I was stunned is an understatement. Oh, 2014 is going to be filled with lots of Moin Moin, Ekuru, Akara (recipe HERE) and Gbegiri (recipe HERE). I can’t wait till my mother visits next year and show it to her. All those long suffering she put me through to peel beans was for nothing. You needed to have seen the look on her face when I made pounded yam in a food processor. hehehehehe. I told her that my daughters and of course sons if I am blessed to have both sexes are going to have such a stress free life in the kitchen, cooking will come second nature to them.

I find it absolutely hilarious and strange that many Nigerians have this guilt complex with cooking, in terms of the effort expended. i.e. we have this notion of food must be slaved over to great a great dish and to be seen as a “good wife”. Attempt to take a short cut and you are sneered at. Well, it is their loss. if they want to remain in the 1900’s more power to them. A 2013 cook should take advantage of technology. After all it has made life easier for us in other areas. If like me, peeling beans has made you shy away from those dishes I mentioned, well get your tummy’s ready because you are going to be eating lots of it.

1. Measure how much beans you want and add cold water. Let it soak for up to 5 minutes maximum. Dooney’s Kitchen Tip: the reason for this is that, you only need the beans to soak for a bit to soften the skin only and not the beans itself, otherwise it will be badly crushed in the blender. I made the mistake of soaking for longer, and now I know better. Some even say they don’t soak at all but add straight to the blender, and it works but not everyone has a powerful blender, and I don’t want to be responsible for your blender going kaput. Please soak. 5 minutes or under.

in 5 minutes or less, strain out the water to prevent the beans from soaking further.

2. Scoop handfuls of beans into a blender. For your first time, one handful is enough till you get the hang of thing. Once you understand the process, then you can scoop more and peel in bigger batches.

see below, only one handful

3. Cover the bender and use the pulse button, as the beans are pushed up and moved around by the rotating blades, you will see that the skin is peeling off nicely. Pulse a few times until you see that the majority of the skins have peeled of. If you don’t have a pulse button (i don’t), but a on and off button, just put the blender on for a few seconds at a time. This will mimic the pule button. Just for a few seconds and switch it off. if you have numbers on your blender use number 1 or 2 for a few seconds. Same result.

This is what I got after a few pulses. See, the skins have peeled off

4. Pour the beans out into a bowl and repeat the process until you have exhausted the soaked beans. Here, the process is now back to the same as peeling with your hands but you have saved a massive amount of time and stress. Simply our water over the peeled beans and let the skins float to the top, decant the water and repeat the process again.

see below, after several additions of water. You can also see the crushed bits of beans. Not to worry, you are going to be blending the whole lot anyway, so the crushed bits are no problem

after several rinsing, a tad OCD I know, here is my peeled beans. No skin in sight. Honestly, this method is just amazing. The majority of the time was spent rinsing out the skins

If you area wondering if all the beans will have their skins pulled off, no, but the number is so negligible, it is nothing to worry about. In the picture below, i deliberately picked out the unpeeled beans and took a shot, just to show you how small the quantity is. I was tempted to also peel this in blender, but I thought nah Dunni, just peel with your hands, it is too small an amount.

………….and that’s a wrap people. Don’t you just love technology eh. If you don;t know how to make Pounded Yam in a Food Processor, click HERE. Say no to Poundo Flour and eat the real thing with no stress. Just peel your yams and put on the fire. Way easier than turning a pot of flour with Lord knows what in it.