Why it works: Rice and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,374 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Indian Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a gentle oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the rice
Wash the rice.
Dry the rice.
Place the rice in a deep dish.
Moisten the rice with milk.
Set the rice in a gentle oven.
Add small quantities of milk at intervals until the rice is swollen and tender but dry.
Mix in the sugar and cream if using.
Assemble and bake
Fill a tart dish with the sugared fruit.
Heap the rice over the fruit.
Leave the mixture rough.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for half an hour, or longer if the fruit is very hard.
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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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + creamtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,399 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Swells with milk and sets into a tender, dry body that forms the pudding's structure.
- Milk
- Hydrates the rice as it swells, giving the pudding its moisture and tenderness.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the flavor of the fruit and cream.
- Rich cream
- Adds fat and richness, softening the texture of the finished pudding.
- Fruit
- Sweetened fruit in the base of the dish provides flavor and moisture under the rice.
The step that matters
Add milk gradually until the rice is swollen and tender but dry. Rice absorbs liquid slowly as its starch gelatinizes. Adding milk in small amounts lets the grains swell fully without turning the mixture soupy, so the top stays dry enough to bake.
“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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