How To Cook Pinto Beans From Scratch

Things Needed To Cook Pinto Beans

Pinto beans are mild in flavor and the earth and nutty taste pair extremely well with multiple strong aromatics. Moreover, to cook it from the start, the following things will come into use. 

Ingredients

1. Dry Pinto Beans: Dry pinto beans work as the main ingredient. These will be soaked beforehand to make the beans ready to cook.
2. Water: It is needed to soak the pinto beans at first and then for the second time, the pinto beans are cooked by submerging in the water as well. 
3. Aromatics: Aromatics are the ground spices that are responsible for adding flavor so the earthiness of the beans does not overwhelm the palate.
4. Herbs: Herbs have multiple propose while cooking, when added while cooking, they emit a different flavoring and when added as a garnish, they balance the overall flavor.
5. Salt: Salt brings out the best in the flavor. A little quantity sprinkled over the dish can change the eating experience. It enhances the overall flavor of the whole dish filling the tiny gaps or shortcomings in the dish  
6. Oil: Oil works as a greasing agent for the cooking vessel. As it can cook at higher temperatures than water, it provides support to make the food more flavorful. 
7. Butter: Adding butter with oil will allow the butter to leave its aroma better.  While enhancing the flavor, butter also adds creaminess to the food if used during the cooking process.
8. Turmeric: Turmeric will add color to the finished product that will appeal the eyes and make the final cooked dish look delicious increasing the appetite

Tools:

1. Pot with a lid: The pot will be used to cook the pinto beans. As for the lid, it helps to retain the heat and also the flavor as much as possible while cooking. This makes the pinto beans cook faster and also still have their flavor despite being cooked at higher temperatures.
2. Wooden Ladle or spatula: When the pinto beans are cooking, they will have to be stirred, the ladle is best to use because it can be used as a stir as well as can be used to mash the pinto beans if required. As for the end, a ladle will also be used as a tool to serve.
3. Bowl: Dry pinto beans will need to be soaked using a bowl for them to be easy to cook.
4. Stove: A stove is a medium to produce heat that will pass through the pot increasing gradually for the pinto beans to cook.
5. Skittle: Skittle is used to roast the aromatics that will later be blended into powder to enhance the flavor of the pinto beans.
6. Stone Grinder: Grinding in a stone grinder is a natural way to powder the spices. A stone grinder will produce subtle heat during the grinding process that will enhance the flavor of the spices.

Preparing Pinto Beans For Cooking

Without any prior preparation, cooking pinto beans is not possible. The preparation methods for the pinto beans and the spices are extremely different. The dried pinto beans and ground spices should be bought and prepared in the following way beforehand for smooth cooking.

Soaking Pinto Beans

1. Check the beans to see if any damaged beans are there. The beans with holes, if seen, need to be discarded.
2. Put the dried pinto beans in the bowl and run them under tap water to collect water.
3. Disturb the water with a hand to see if any pinto bean floats up the water's surface, if yes, discard those.
4. Rub the pinto beans inside the water between the palms to extract or remove any brittles or dirt on the surface of the pinto beans into the water.
5. When the water becomes dirty, change the water and repeat the rubbing process for 2 to 3 more washes.
6. After the beans are cleaned, drain the washed water for the last time and drain the water completely.
7. To soak the beans, refill the bowl with clean water to submerge the pinto beans completely.
8. The water must be in the ratio of 1:3 where one part is pinto beans and the other three parts are the water.
9. Cover the bowl and let it sit in a dark place overnight or it can be kept for 6 to 8 hours to let the dry beans soak in the water completely.
10. Next day, drain the excess water as the beans would be soaked and would look fuller and plump.
11. After draining the water, run the bowl of pinto beans under the water once, and drain the water.
12. Keep the fully drained soaked pinto beans in a dry plate and keep them aside for later as the pinto beans are now ready to be cooked. 

How To Cook Pinto Beans

The pinto beans will cook perfectly when the skin of the beans is still chewy but the insides are cooked to become creamy. To make perfect pinto beans, the ingredients' measurements, the cooking timing, and the temperature while cooking are to be measured as well.

Here is the detailed cooking process with all the measurements to make a perfect pinto bean recipe to be used for the serving of 6 people.

Ingredients

• 1 and a half cup of dry pinto beans (1/4 cup per person)
• 8 cups of water during cooking
• 1/2 an ounce of ginger
• 8 to 9 cloves of garlic
• 1 big red onion
• 1 cup of fresh Cilantro (chop the leaves and stems separately)
• 4 big dry Cardamom
• 3 cloves with its bulb
• 1 complete dried bay leaf
• 1 tsp of salt
• 2 Globe tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp of Paprika or 2 dried red chillies.
• 1 tsp of oil
• 1 tsp of butter
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/3 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/3 fennel seeds
• 1/3 carom seeds
• 1 tsp of turmeric
• half a lemon

Instructions 

1. Make A Flavoring and A Spice Mix

Take a skillet and dry-roast half of the fennel seeds, half of the cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, and red chili until fragrant. Roast them one by one for about 30 seconds each. This will help the ground spices to enhance the flavor. Let the roasted ground spice and aromatics sit aside undisturbed for 5 to 7 minutes.

This will cool the spices by bringing the temperature down. Grind the roasted spice and aromatic mix into a finer powder to make a spice mix. Set the mix aside to use later. Take the remaining fennel and cumin seeds together and keep them aside, away from the heat. Keep the spice mix in for later use. This mix has a long shelf life it can be stored for over a year if stored well in an airtight container and a dark place.

Make a flavoring mix by making a paste of onion and garlic by grinding them on a stone grinder where the powder was made. This will not only let any spice bits go to waste but also enhance the flavoring. Chop the onion into slices, chop the tomatoes into four wedges, and set them aside to use later.

2. Cooking

Turn the stove on, place a pot over the stove, and turn the heat up to medium to high after a minute. Pour one tbsp of oil into the pot and let it heat up a little. Add half a tsp of butter for creamy flavor. This well makes the food more fragrant. After the oil mix is heated add the bay leaf, carom seeds, as well as the remaining fennel seed and cumin seeds to temper.

The seeds will change their color in about 20 to 30 seconds, after they do so, add the onion slices. When the onion slices start to brown add the ginger garlic paste and let it cook. The oil will start to separate from the onion and the ginger garlic paste after 2 to 3 minutes of cooking after which, add the soaked pinto beans, cilantro stem, turmeric, and salt.

Mix everything well for a minute and then add tomatoes, cover, and cook it again for 1 to 2 minutes until the tomatoes shed some of the water. After the tomatoes start to shed water, a gravy-like texture forms at the bottom of the pot. This is when the water should be poured.

Add the spice mix powder before adding the water. Stir everything to mix them all, cover the pot with the lid for 4 to 5 minutes, and let the water come to a boil. After it starts boiling, lower the heat to medium to low, and let it cook by simmering for more than one hour.

3. Check The Doneness

Let the pinto beans cook undisturbed for about 1 hour and uncover the lid to check the state of the beans. Take a pinto bean pinch it in between the fingers and see if it smashes very easily. The insides of the pinto beans under the skin are soft and mushy even if the skin remains chewy therefore the beans must be smashed easily.

If not, let it keep simmering for more than 15 minutes but keep checking in between. Check it again afterward and see if done. Repeat the process making sure about how much the bean is cooking. Some beans take time to cook therefore when smashing with a finger if a little strength is applied then only 15 minutes can be enough.

If more strength is needed to smash, more cooking time is needed. It might take about 1 hour and 30 minutes to cook well and sometimes it might take about 2 hours. When done, smash some of the beans inside the pot with a wooden spoon for a thicker consistency. Or water can be added for a thinner consistency.

4. Serve

After the pinto beans are done cooking, put the remaining butter and serve it by garnishing with chopped cilantro leaves. This dish goes well with rice, tortillas, slices of bread, and any other dry food products. Some of the popular choices are beaten rice and puffed rice. This can also be used as a side dish to go with Crepe. 

Add more salt if needed. And for some kick on the taste, the option of squeezing a lemon is totally fine.

How Long To Cook Pinto Beans

Cooking Pinto beans is a time-consuming process. It needs a lot of effort and planning to cook this legume. from preparation to cooking and finally to plate the cooked food. This whole process needs a complete day. In the beginning, it takes 8 hours to soak the dry pinto beans. Which then will have to be run underwater for proper cleaning.

In the case of sprouting, after the pinto beans are soaked, the water will have to be changed and soaked again for four more hours after which it will have to be cleaned by running into the water. The cleaned beans will have to be wrapped in a muslin cloth and hung in a dark place undisturbed for 24 to 36 hours, and sprouts can be seen.

As for the time it takes during the cooking process, the pinto beans will have to be stirred and cooked in the spices, flavorings, and tomato which will require five minutes. After the water is added to simmer, it will take about one hour and a half to cook it well. Thus a total of 10 to 12 hours are needed to cook the pinto beans. 

To cook the pinto beans into a mush requires more time. Little by little water is added if needed to not burn and is cooked until the insides leak out of the skin themselves.

Additional Tips For Best Pinto Beans

The pinto bean is quite addicting to the palate and also helps to satiate the nutritional needs of the body. Known to be the choice, popularly due to being able to keep the stomach fuller for a longer period, there are the following things to note while cooking pinto beans.

These tips will surely add on to the taste, flavor, and nutritional benefits.

• The pinto beans should be checked thoroughly after it is soaked because some of the damaged or bruised ones may not have been previously visible when they were dry. 
• Roasting the ground spices will make the flavor stronger and more impressive and cooling them before grinding will help to powder the spices to a finer texture.
• A blender can be a good substitute for the stone grinder. However, stone grinding is a natural way and the heat it emits during the grinding process makes the spice mix much better in taste and flavor. Therefore recommended.
• Do not cook or use the water that the pinto beans have been soaked in. Discard the excess water because they will have "oligosaccharides", indigestible fibers that will make it difficult for the body to break down the consumed pinto beans.
• Soaking the beans will not only be easy to digest but will also give a nice brown color that will be appetizing pink after it is cooked.
• The spices and herbs are versatile choices and can be chosen according to taste and preference.
• Serving the cooked pinto beans while they are hot will boost the appetite and taste. Therefore, in case the dish is cold, reheat it in a microwave or warm it up on a stove to enjoy the flavors better than the cold one.
• Instead of a pot, a pressure cooker can be an amazing choice of tool to cook the pinto beans faster. A pressure cooker saves one-third of the time. With time, pinto beans also require less water when cooking in a pressure cooker. The quantity of water can be reduced by half.
• Adding the seasoning before and after plays different roles. Therefore, add the seasonings at the end to enhance the roasted flavor. If added before water, the spices will emit subtle smokiness.
• Spice mix has a long shelf life, if stored dry in an airtight container, it can be stored for up to 6 months to a year.
• Making the spice mix and flavoring paste on the same day of cooking will help the pinto beans have a subtle fresh flavor and taste.