Around 8,000 varieties of rice are currently cultivated around the world. There are even more than 22,000 rice varieties stored in an Indian rice grain plasma bank.

Brown rice or whole grain rice is natural and unpolished, but hulled and still has the silverskin and the germ. This is where the slightly brownish color comes from. Brown / wholegrain rice consists mainly of starch and contains important B vitamins, minerals and trace elements such as iron, phosphorus and magnesium, but is low in fat. It contains complex carbohydrates and a lot of fiber, which is mainly found in the husk. Fiber absorbs a lot of moisture in the digestive tract, which is largely beneficial for the intestines and digestion. Rice is low in calories, contains little sodium and has a high potassium content. This helps to dehydrate the body.

To produce white rice, the silverskin is milled off the seedling of the brown rice grain. What remains is the starchy germ, as up to 80% of the minerals and vitamins are contained in the silverskin. To prevent the loss of these minerals and still be able to hull the rice, the parboiling process is used. Using steam and pressure, the nutrients are pressed into the interior of the still unhulled grain. After hardening the surface by repeated treatment with hot steam, the grains are polished and the nutrients remain in the grain.

Light-colored rice varieties such as jasmine rice and basmati rice, as well as wild rice, can be stored for years without spoiling.  The situation is different with wholegrain rice. Here, the average shelf life is around one year. The reason: wholegrain rice contains more fat, which can spoil over time.

Rice grains are polished during production. Washing removes the remaining fine dust. This and the starch ensure that the rice sticks.

To prepare 200 grams of white rice, you need 1.5 times as much water, i.e. 300 ml. However, if you have decided to prepare wholegrain rice, you will need double the amount, i.e. 400 ml for 200 grams.

Rice contains little fat, but valuable complex carbohydrates, which are processed more slowly by the body and therefore keep you full for longer. Rice also contains many important B vitamins, which are important for the skin, nerves and metabolism.

Cooking generally requires a lot of creativity. And this applies not only to the ingredients, but also to seasoning. Salt makes the rice taste stronger and it is therefore recommended to cook it in salted water. Vegetable stock is also a tasty alternative.

For a side dish portion, 62.5 grams of dry rice per person is recommended. If it is the main course, 100 grams of dry rice per person is recommended for a small rice appetizer and 125 grams for a large rice appetizer.

You can easily keep leftover cooked rice in the fridge for 1-2 days.

Cooked rice can be frozen without any problems. Dry-cooking, grainy varieties such as jasmine or basmati rice are particularly suitable for this. Softer varieties become even softer and possibly mushy when frozen and defrosted.

With both the rice stove and the swelling method, you should not stir the rice. Opening the lid allows the heat and moisture that the grains need for cooking to escape. Stirring also damages the structure of the rice. It becomes mushy more quickly.

Botanically, pulses belong to the scattered fruits of the papilionaceous family. The fruits themselves, i.e. the seeds, are enclosed in a shell, often an elongated carpel. Usually only the fruits themselves are suitable for consumption, which are removed from the carpel and prepared fresh or dried. Green runner beans, which can be cooked and eaten together with the pod, are an exception. Peas, beans and lentils are certainly among the best-known pulses. But chickpeas and peanuts also belong to the family.

Pulses include the stray seeds of plants from the butterfly family that ripen in pods. This plant family is extremely diverse. Common varieties are peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas, sweet lupins and peanuts. They are each characterized by further subspecies.

The exact origin of pulses is not entirely clear. What we do know is that people have been cultivating pulses for over a thousand years. This makes them one of the oldest cultivated plants known to mankind. It remains unclear on which continent cultivation began. Pulses are still one of the most important staple foods in many of their countries of origin. In India, for example, pulses are served at almost every meal – lentils in particular are very popular in Indian cuisine. The sturdy seeds are now grown almost everywhere in the world: A whole 150 million tons of pulses are produced every year. The local preferences of different cultures have created a huge variety of legume recipes.

The correct preparation of pulses is essential, as we cannot eat them raw. Depending on the variety, pulses are soaked overnight and then cooked for 60-90 minutes. This basic procedure applies to most pulses, such as chickpeas and many beans. Unlike chickpeas and beans, lentils do not usually need to be soaked, but simply rinsed and then cooked in water or vegetable stock. Depending on the variety, lentils are cooked after just 10-15 minutes (red and yellow lentils) or after approx. 45 minutes (brown lentils and lentils).

We recommend using red or yellow lentils to start with, as they are very easy to prepare: Rinse thoroughly in a sieve under hot water, then bring to the boil once with three times the amount of water or vegetable stock in a pan with the lid on, and then simmer over a low heat for 10-15 minutes until cooked. Red or yellow lentils, for example, go very well in a tomato-based sauce such as lentil dal. Kidney beans are also a great variety for pulse novices. Together with corn, for example, they can be used to conjure up a quick and protein-rich salad.

As pulses are a natural product, it is advisable to wash them before cooking to remove any husk residue or similar. Although our pulses are cleaned as thoroughly as possible before packaging, it still makes sense to check for stones or similar. This is because if stones are in the shape of a pea, for example, they cannot be distinguished during cleaning.

Dried pulses lose a lot of liquid during the production process, which they have to reabsorb during preparation. If they absorb some of this during soaking, this shortens the cooking time. The recommended soaking time is 8-12 hours, although overnight is also possible. The cooking time for lentils is so short that soaking is not necessary. If you have forgotten to soak beans, peas and the like, you can speed up the process. To do this, boil the pulses once in plenty of water and then leave to stand for an hour.

The soaking water from pulses should not be used for cooking, as certain carbohydrates (oligosaccharides) are dissolved in it. They are partly responsible for flatulence caused by pulses.

Pulses have a reputation for being difficult to digest. However, there are a few tricks that can at least minimize the problem. For example, you can pour away the soaking water. There is also a reason why beans are cooked with savory or caraway and why lentil stew tastes particularly delicious with marjoram or rosemary. It is precisely these traditionally used spices that help with digestion. Incidentally, it also helps to eat pulses regularly and slowly increase the amount. This allows the intestines to get used to the composition of the pulses. If you have forgotten to soak beans, peas and the like, you can speed up the process. To do this, boil the pulses once in plenty of water and then leave them to stand for an hour.

The seeds of pulses are valuable sources of energy and nutrients: they contain more protein than any other plant-based food. Proteins keep you full for a long time and promote fat burning. Pulses are also rich in long-chain carbohydrates and keep you full for a long time. The reason: the body needs a lot of time to break down the long carbohydrate chains in peas, lentils and the like. This slow digestion makes the intestines happy and the energy is gradually released.