Grain, Legume and Vegetable Cooking Reference Tables

This page is intended as a reference for preparing any type of savoury stews, soups, sauces and sides by simmering vegetables, grains and/or legumes.

Quick Reference for Boiling Pulses/Grains

“Boiling” is misleading as in most cases you should bring water to the boil then turn down and simmer for the specified time.

Time (mins)	Pulses (dry)	Grains (dry)	Pulses (soaked)	Grains (soaked)
120	Chickpeas	Rye Groats	Soy beans (yellow)
60	Dried Whole Peas, Black/Borlotti/Kidney/White/Navy Beans	Wheat Groats, Oat Groats (whole)	Chickpeas	Rye Groats
45		Brown Rice		Wheat Groats, Oat Groats (whole)
35	Split Peas (Green/Yellow), Whole Mung Beans	Pearl Barley	Dried Whole Peas, Black/Borlotti/Kidney/White/Navy Beans
25	Green Lentils, Soy Grits	White Quinoa, Millet	Split Peas (Green/Yellow)	Pearl Barley
20	French Lentils, Split Mung Beans	Buckwheat, Course Bulgur
10-15	Red Split Lentils	Steel Cut Oats	Whole Mung Beans, Green Lentils

Full Cooking Time and Reference Table

Type

[V]egetables, [P]ulses, [G]rains or [G*] for Pseudo-grains.

Water

the proportional amount of water required by volume i.e. 3 means you will need 3 cups of water for each cup of dry ingredient.

Prep

For pulses and grains, “Dry” for cooking time with dry ingredients or “Soaked” for grains which have been soaked for 6-10 hours in plenty of water in the fridge to soften them up. Always drain the soaking-water and rinse the grains before cooking.

For vegetables, this column shows the loss factor from peeling, cutting out cores etc. E.g. if this entry shows “1.5” you need to buy 150g of veg at the market to produce 100g of peeled and prepared veg.

Time (mins)	Food	Prep	Water	Type	Notes
2	Fine Bulgur	Dry	3	G	Alternatively just add boiled water and stand for 5 minutes
5	Broccoli			V
6	Cornmeal	Dry		G	aka Polenta
6	Corn (kernels/cob)			V
7	Asparagus			V
7	Zucchini			V
7	Eggplant			V	Peel on or off
10	Carrots			V
10	Red Split Lentils	Dry		P	Will disintegrate into Dal if cooked longer
30	Mung Beans (whole)	Soaked		P
10	Brussels Sprouts			V
10	Cauliflower			V
11	Leeks			V	Remove leaves and peel outer layer of bulb before cutting
12	Parsnip			V
13	Butternut Pumpkin			V
15	Black Quinoa	Dry		G*	Must usually be rinsed first
15	Steel Cut Oats	Dry		G	Will disintegrate into Porridge if cooked longer
18	Teff	Dry		G
20	Soy Grits	Dry		P	Can be cooked for much longer - won’t go soggy
20	Buckwheat	Dry		G*
20	Coarse Bulgur	Dry	2.25	G
20	Amaranth	Dry	3	G*
25	White Quinoa	Dry	2	G*	Must usually be rinsed first
25	Millet	Dry		G
25	Whole Green Lentils	Dry		P
25	Pearl Barley	Soaked	3	G
25	Green Split Peas	Soaked	3	P
30	Mung Beans (whole)	Dry		P
35	Green Split Peas	Dry	3	P
35	Yellow Split Peas	Dry	3	P
35	Pearl Barley	Dry		G
35	Borlotti Beans	Soaked		P
35	Black Beans	Soaked		P
45	Brown Rice	Dry	2.25	G
45	Wheat Groats	Soaked	4	G	aka Wheatberries or Whole Wheat Grains
50	Whole Oat Groats	Dry		G
55	Borlotti Beans	Dry		P
55	Black Beans	Dry		P
60	Whole Peas	Dry	3	P	aka Blue Boiler Peas
60	Rye Groats	Soaked	3	G	aka Rye Grains
60	Chickpeas	Soaked	3	P
60	Wheat Groats	Dry		G	aka Wheatberries or Whole Wheat Grains
120 (2hrs)	Rye Groats	Dry		G	aka Rye Grains
120 (2hrs)	Chickpeas	Dry		P
120 (2hrs)	Mature Whole Soy Beans	Soaked		P	aka Yellow Soy Beans; NOT Soy Nuts
240 (4hrs)	Mature Whole Soy Beans	Dry		P	aka Yellow Soy Beans; NOT Soy Nuts

Aromatic Vegetable Flavour Bases

Some classic vegetable (and herb/spice) combinations to start off a sauce, stew, soup etc. Generally sauteed (in the indicated fat/oil) unless otherwise specified.

Ratios of ingredients refer to the approximate volume when chopped - not individual vegetables.

Quick Reference Matrix (most herbs and spices excluded for space)
Cuisine	Butter	Garlic	Onion	Ginger	Carrot	Celery	Tomato	Capsicum
Cajun / Creole (Trinity)		~
Chinese			~
Ethiopian / Eritrean (Wat)							~
French (Mirepoix)	~	~
German / Dutch (Suppengrün)	~		~			~
Greek							~
Hungarian (Paprikas)		~			~
Indian
Italian (Soffrito)		~					~
Jamaican			~	~				~
Lebanese			~
Middle Eastern
Moroccan / Magrhebi (Tagine)				~
Portugese (Refogado)					~	~
Spanish (Sofrito)					~	~
Thai

Detailed table, Onion based combinations
Combination	Cuisine	Basic Ingredients	Fat	Common Optional Ingr.	Notes
Duxelles	French	Mushrooms, Onion, Thyme, Parsley	Butter	Fortified Wine, Cream	Also used as a stuffing or tart filling
Mirepoix	French	Onion, Carrot or Parsnip, Celery (2:1:1)	Butter / None	Garlic, Parsley, Thyme, Wine/Vinegar, Tomato Paste (for Pincage)	May be boiled for some uses, or cooked more gently than sauteeing. Replace Carrot with Parsnip for pale coloured sauces/soups.
Soffrito	Italian	Onion, Carrot, Celery (2:1:1)	Olive Oil	Garlic, Shallots, Leeks, Oregano, Basil, Fennel, Sage, Wine, Bay leaf	Base for many pasta sauces, with added tomato or puree
Sofrito	Spanish	Garlic, Onion, Capsicum, Tomato	Olive Oil	Celery, Carrot, Chilli, Coriander seeds, Cumin, Paprika, Cilantro	Many regional variations and names
Refogado	Portugese	Garlic, Onion	Olive Oil	Bay Leaves, Capsicum, Tomato, Celery, Carrot, Chilli, Coriander seeds, Cumin, Paprika, Cilantro	Many regional variations and names
Suppengrün	German / Dutch	Leek, Carrot, Celeriac	Butter / None	Parsley, Thyme, Celery, Swede, Onion	May be boiled when making soups
Trinity	Cajun / Creole	Onion, Carrot or Celery, Capsicum (1:1:1)	Butter or Oil	Garlic, Parsley, Shallots, Paprika	Cajun Cooking uses Celery; Creole uses Carrot
Paprikas	Hungarian	Onion, Paprika	Lard or Butter	Carrot, Garlic, Poppy seeds, Pepper
Tagine	Morroccan / Maghrebi	Onion, Cumin, Turmeric, Cinnamon	Clarif. Butter or Olive Oil	Coriander seeds, Ginger. Saffron, Paprika, Chilli	“Tagine” can refer to the finished stew or the specific cooking vessel.
Wat	Ethiopian / Eritrean	Onion	None / Clarified Butter	Tomato, Cumin, Turmeric, Paprika, Chilli	Onion is cooked dry at minimal heat before adding fat and other ingredients

Detailed table, Garlic-Ginger combinations
Cuisine	Basic Ingredients	Fat	Common Optional/Alternative Ingr.
Chinese	Garlic, Ginger, Scallions	Blended Oil	Five Spice, Star Anise, Shallots, Chilli, Cilantro, Onion
Greek	Garlic, Oregano, Lemon Juice	Olive Oil	Cinnamon, Tomato, Zucchini, Capers, Basil
Indian	Garlic, Ginger, Onion	Ghee or Blended Oil	Chilli, Cumin, Curry, Cardamom, Tumeric, Garam Masala
Jamaican	Garlic, Scallions, Thyme	Oil and/or Coconut Milk	Onion, Capsicum, Chilli, Ginger, Allspice, Nutmeg
Lebanese	Garlic, Lemon Juice	Olive Oil	Chickpeas, Parsley, Onions
Middle Eastern	Garlic, Ginger, Onion, Tomato	Ghee or Blended Oil	Raisins, Saffron, Tumeric, Cinnamon
Thai	Garlic, Galangal, Lemongrass. Kaffir Lime leaves	Oil and/or Coconut Milk	Chilli, Shallots

Dal Terminology

Dal (also Dahl, Daal etc): Indian subcontinental term for any dried pulses/legumes, also specific soups prepared with them. Dal is the sanskrit word for “split”.
Sabut: Whole and unhulled Dal, generally more nutritions but longer to cook.
Gram: Can be a synonym for “Sabut” or used to refer to chickpea products (e.g. “gram flour”)
Chilka: Split but with the skin remaining, quicker to cook.
Dhuli: Split and skinned (Hindi for “washed”), quicker to cook but loses the nutrients from the skin, especially fibre.

Changelog

20190301: Expanded Aromatic Flavour Bases and added the Quick Reference Matrix
20190216: Added Aromatic Flavour Bases and Dal Terms
201902: Added Quick Pulse&Grain Reference Table.
2018: Initial version with long form table, no prep loss for veg.