Rather than the customary overnight soak, a one hour soak is an effective tool to increase the consumption of pulses in countries south of the equator. Perhaps in northern countries such a technique is not effective, but in countries where the majority of the population cooks from scratch what they eat and easily spends over an hour in cooking the main meal, diminishing the soaking time and thus the necessity to remember to put the pulses on to soak the night before, presents a viable option to the cook. In my work in WFP in school feeding programs, once the community members learned to soak pulses for one hour in water in which they had boiled for merely two minutes, pulse consumption increased significantly.
USAID´s and US universities are justified in their reservation to promote pulse consumption through the one hour soak technique WHEN THINKING OF THE US POPULATION. However, when considering the world´s population who can benefit through increased pulse consumption, the one hour soak technique can be a very effective tool. It requires no additional research time. All that is necessary are communication campaigns.
Michelle O. Fried