Pulses, nuts and oil seeds
Pulses are the dry seeds of legumes: beans, peas, lentils, cowpeas, pigeon peas, green grams and chickpeas. Nuts are seeds with a hard shell: groundnuts (peanuts), cashew nuts, coconut, almonds. Oil seeds are rich in oil: sunflower, sesame (simsim), cotton seed, soya beans, groundnuts.
| Food | Protein | Fat | Other nutrients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beans | 22% | 1% | Iron, B vitamins, fibre, carbohydrate |
| Soya beans | 36% | 20% | Iron, calcium; the best plant protein |
| Groundnuts | 26% | 49% | Vitamin E, B vitamins |
| Cashew nuts | 18% | 44% | Iron, zinc |
| Sesame seeds | 18% | 50% | Calcium |
Pulses give incomplete protein (low in some amino acids), but when eaten with cereals (rice and beans, ugali and beans) the amino acids complement each other. Soya beans give nearly complete protein. They contain a lot of fibre, and are cheap compared to meat.
Preparing pulses and nuts
Dishes: beans stew, maharage ya nazi, kunde, dengu (lentil soup), groundnut sauce, roasted groundnuts, chickpea and hummus. Keep dry pulses in a clean, dry, airtight container. Old beans take longer to cook. Cook them well, because raw or undercooked beans can cause stomach upset.
Choose the weight of dry beans and the protein content.
Key terms
- Pulse
- The dry edible seed of a legume.
- Oil seed
- A seed grown mainly for its oil.
- Complementary proteins
- Proteins that together supply all the amino acids.
- Soaking
- Leaving food in water to soften.
Summary
- Pulses, nuts and oil seeds are rich in protein; nuts and oil seeds also have a lot of fat.
- Eat pulses with cereals for a better protein.
- Soak and cook beans well.
- Store them dry and airtight.