On Food and Cooking

can,    so  much    of  the cooking time    is

moistening  time.   Presoaking  seeds   for a

few hours   or  overnight   can cut cooking

times   by  half    or  more.

Most    seeds   get quite   soft    when    they’ve

absorbed    enough  liquid  to  be  about   60–

70% water   by  weight. That    quantity    of

water   is  the equivalent  of  about   1.7 times

the dry weight  of  the seeds,  or  about   1.4

times   their   volume. Recipes generally

call    for much    more    water   than    this    to

allow   for water   lost    to  evaporation during

cooking.

The texture of  fully   cooked  seeds   is  soft

and fragile at  cooking temperatures,   but

firms   during  cooling.    If  an  intact

appearance  is  important,  it’s    good    to  let

grains  and legumes cool    down    before

handling    them.

Turning Seeds   into    Meat    Substitutes

Vegetarian cooks, particularly Buddhists in