Why it works: Buttermilk and molasses work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 526 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Indian Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine buttermilk, molasses, salt, and baking soda dissolved in hot water.
Stir in enough Indian meal and wheat or graham flour to make a thick batter.
Let the mixture stand in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Steam
Steam the batter for 3 hours.
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
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Buttermilk + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together526 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Buttermilk + wheattop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Molasses + wheattop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together702 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Buttermilk
- Provides acidity that reacts with the baking soda to lift the batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to produce gas that leavens the bread.
- Indian meal
- Forms the main body and structure of the bread as cornmeal sets during cooking.
- Wheat flour or graham flour
- Adds gluten-forming protein and structure to help hold the bread together.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, depth of flavor, and moisture to the batter.
The step that matters
Dissolving the baking soda in hot water before combining. Baking soda needs an acid to react and release gas. Dissolving it evenly in the liquid before adding it to the buttermilk spreads the reaction through the batter, so the bread rises evenly rather than in pockets.
“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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