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Dessert

Indian Meal Pudding

A sweet pudding made from cornmeal, wheat flour, milk, eggs, and sugar, baked in cups.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Wheat and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 537 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Indian Meal Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA steady oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a steady oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. Boil the milk in a pot.

  2. Stir in the cornmeal, flour, and salt, then boil for 15 minutes, stirring well from the bottom.

  3. Transfer to a bowl and beat hard for 3 minutes.

  4. Once cooled, add the beaten eggs, sugar, and spices, and whip thoroughly.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in greased cups or muffin tins in a steady oven at 350°F (175°C).

  2. When done, turn out.

  3. Serve with butter and powdered sugar.

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

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.

  1. Wheat + cinnamontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together537 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  2. Milk + wheattop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the batter and help set the pudding structure as it bakes.
White cornmeal
Forms the main body of the pudding, thickening into a soft, tender crumb.
Milk
Hydrates the cornmeal and adds moisture and richness to the batter.
Wheat flour
Adds extra structure so the pudding holds its shape when turned out.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidity of cream of tartar to lift and lighten the batter.
Cream of tartar
Provides acidity that activates the baking soda for rising.

The step that matters

Beat hard for 3 minutes. Vigorous beating incorporates air and develops the batter's structure, helping the pudding rise and keep a light texture once baked.

Swap the cinnamon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, wheat, flour, sugar, butter, cream):

  1. Cinnamonthe original
  2. Nutmegfits about as well
  3. Turmericfits less well
  4. Capersfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, wheat, flour, sugar, butter, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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