Mixed whole grains in my rice cooker

[MixedGrains]

Gypsy saw me mention my mixed grains mix on another thread and PMed me to ask for the recipe. As I told her, it's not really a recipe so much as an algorithm. I use this mixed grains mix as a staple food, always in my fridge. Sometimes I eat it fairly plain with salsa or pepper sauce, or with tomatoes and other veggies diced into it -- but usually I use it as a base, over which I put hot savory bean/legume mixes of various kinds.

The algorithm:

1) Mix up as many whole grains as you can find
2) Add some spices
3) Cook them in your rice cooker on the brown rice setting with some extra water
4) top them with the savory food of your choice.

But for those who like specifics, here's what I did yesterday. The actual grain mix is different every time depending on what I have; the only things that never change are the brown rice and the flax seed.

Yesterday: I made 7 cups of dry grains in a rice cooker with a 12-cup capacity and a "brown rice" setting. The mix was:

1 cup brown rice
1 cup red rice
1 cup wheat berries
1 cup oat groats
1 cup hulled barley
1/2 cup rye berries
1/2 cup spelt grains
1/2 cup millet
1/2 cup flax seed

These are the "small" cups using the measuring cup that comes with the cooker; I'm not sure the actual volume but it's a bit less than an actual measured cup.

I usually add some spices/flavorings, but the way cooked grains swallow up flavorings, the ones I add are barely discernible in the cooked product. They just make it "not bland". Yesterday I used:

1-2 Tbs dried onion flakes
1-2 Tbs dried garlic powder
1 Tbs salt
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp powdered cumin

There's a line in my rice cooker showing where to fill with cooking water for a given volume of dry grain -- I overfill mine to about the 8-cup mark to give all these diverse grains a bit of extra cooking time / cooking moisture. Then I just cook it all on the brown rice cycle and refrigerate right in the cooker pot -- it keeps for a week or ten days.

To use, I scoop about a cupful of cooked grains into a bowl, top with whatever savory bean/legume glop I happen to have cooked in my fridge, and microwave for four minutes.

[serenity]

I'm pretty sure that the cups that come with electric rice cookers are about 3/4 cup. I found confirmation of that on Wikipedia.

The rice cup measure is normally based on the traditional Japanese measurement system 1 gō (合?), which has its origin in China (gě合). 1 gō (合?) is 180 ml, approximately 25% smaller than the American measuring cup of 8 (US) fluid ounces / 240 ml. 1 cup gō (合?) is regarded to produce enough cooked rice enough for a meal for one person.

[Dendra]

This sounds good - thanks for the instructions.

I only have a limited selection of grains in the house now, but just put on to cook (on the stovetop) some brown rice, wild rice, and flax seed with flavorings - onion, parsley, chile flakes - as well as some water from soaking dehydrated mushrooms.

edit: ...and now it's cooked. It is delightful both in texture and appearance. Flavor is a bit bland. Next time I'll add more seasonings, though in combination with 'stew', it might not need it.

I know what I'm having for lunch - there is a nice, gooey veg/lentil concoction in the fridge right now that would be a good grain topper.

[MixedGrains]

It is delightful both in texture and appearance. Flavor is a bit bland. Next time I'll add more seasonings...

This made me laugh, hard! Because it is the story of my life whenever I cook whole grains. No matter how much spice/seasoning I add at the cooking stage, the grains swallow them all up. I still do it, but I've become resigned to the fact that I'm going to need to add more spice and flavoring at the eating stage -- either directly or in the glop I ladle on top.

My rule: never underestimate the power of brown rice or whole wheat noodles to absorb and assimilate all your spices.

[MixedGrains]

I'm curious about cooking flaxseed with your mix? Does it swell?

It does! But I'm only using half a cup or less in any given mix of 6-8 cups grain, so it doesn't matter much. Each flax seed swells and develops a unique texture ... it gets to be something like the seed out of a ripe tomato, a harder interior surrounded by a mucilaginous membrane.

[MixedGrains]

Also, I don't have my original cup with my rice cooker. I'm putting 2 cups water in the basin and it makes the cooker cook for about 45 minutes. Then it flips to a warming phase.

I usually double the rice with water inside the cooker, and add just a little extra water for whole grains.

Do you think that's the correct amount of water above and below for a batch of mixed grain?

Since I first posted this I made a search and found the instruction manual for my rice cooker. So I can confirm that the little cup that came with it is 180ml, just as serenity posted. It's pretty easy to find measuring cups -- even here in the US -- that have milliliter markings along with the English measurements.

With that in mind, I can offer some ratios from my cooker instruction manual. Remember, "cups" means "180ml" in this context:

2 cups rice -- 2.5 cups water
3 cups rice -- 3.5 cups water
4 cups rice -- 4.5 cups water
5 cups rice -- 5.5 cups water
6 cups rice -- 6.5 cups water
7 cups rice -- 7.5 cups water
8 cups rice -- 8.5 cups water

So basically they are recommending a one-to-one ratio of rice to water, plus 90 milliliters of water. 90 milliliters is about 6 tablespoons.

Now, when I follow their recommendations, my cooked grain mix always comes up fairly dry. I like it that way, but when I'm cooking 6 or 7 cups of grain, I usually put in an extra full cup of water. If I were making two cups of mixed grains, I'd use 3 cups of water total. (That's true whether we are talking "rice cooker" 180-ml cups or standard US cups.)

[MixedGrains]

I don't use any kind of cups, because my cooker has lines on the inside that shows where to fill for each increment of uncooked grain. I just fill to that line at the tap, then run a bit more until I think I've added maybe a cup. It's not very precise I'm afraid.