How rice & pasta ratio calculator works
Grains and pasta cook by two completely different rules, and mixing them up is the root of most gummy rice and bland pasta. Absorption grains — white, brown, jasmine, basmati, sushi — cook in a measured amount of water that they soak up entirely, so the ratio is everything: long-grain white takes 2 cups of water per cup of rice, brown needs 2.25, and sushi-style short grain only 1.2.
The calculator scales any of those ratios to your actual amount: put in 1.5 cups of jasmine rice and it returns 2.25 cups of water, a 15-minute simmer and a 10-minute rest. It also estimates the cooked yield — roughly three cups of cooked rice per cup of dry — so you can size the pot and the portions honestly.
Not every grain simmers, though. Arborio cooks risotto-style, absorbing warm stock a ladle at a time while you stir; quinoa needs a good rinse first; couscous never boils at all — it steeps off the heat for five minutes. Each type gets its own method steps, not just a number, because the technique is part of the ratio.
Pasta is the opposite philosophy: it cooks in a large excess of water — the working rule is about 4 quarts per pound — so the starch it releases has somewhere to go and the noodles can move. No ratio to compute, just water volume, a generous salting (about a tablespoon per quart), an al dente window, and the one step everyone skips: reserving a cup of starchy pasta water before draining.