Rumford's Plain Indian Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Sift the Indian meal to remove the bran and place it in a large bowl.
Add the boiling water to the meal and stir well.
Mix in the molasses and salt until fully combined.
Boil and serve
Pour the mixture into a suitable bag, leaving space for it to swell.
Tie the bag securely and place it in a kettle of boiling water.
Boil for 6 hours, replacing evaporated water with boiling water as needed.
Remove the pudding from the bag and serve.
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
- Indian meal
- Cornmeal forms the body of the pudding and sets as it cooks, giving it a firm, thick texture.
- Boiling water
- Hydrates the cornmeal and starts the gelatinization that thickens the pudding during long cooking.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and a deep caramel-like flavor, and keeps the pudding moist.
The step that matters
Boil for 6 hours, replacing evaporated water. The pudding must stay submerged and hot throughout. If the water level drops, the bag can cook unevenly or scorch, and the cornmeal may not set properly.
“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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