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Indian Meal Gruel

A simple gruel made from water, salt, meal, and optional cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Indian Meal Gruel

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Boil 1 pint of water in a saucepan.

  2. Add ½ teaspoon of salt to the boiling water.

  3. Mix 2 tablespoons of finely sifted meal with enough cold water to make a smooth paste.

  4. Stir the meal mixture into the boiling water.

  5. Boil gently for 30 minutes, stirring carefully.

  6. Add 1 tablespoon (or 2 if desired) of cream, boil briefly, and pour into a bowl.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Finely sifted meal
Thickens the water into a gruel as its starch cooks and swells.
Cream
Adds richness and a smoother, softer mouthfeel to the finished gruel.

The step that matters

Mixing the meal into a smooth paste before adding it to the boiling water. Dry meal dropped straight into hot water clumps as its outer starch gelatinises before the inside wets. Blending it smooth with cold water first lets it disperse evenly, so the gruel thickens without lumps.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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