Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Plain Boiled Indian Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Pour the boiling milk into a large bowl with the Indian meal and stir well.
Add the molasses, salt, and flour, and mix until combined.
Boil the mixture for four hours, stirring occasionally.
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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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base and, with its milk proteins and sugars, a creamy texture and browning.
- Indian meal
- Its starch thickens as it cooks in the liquid, giving the pudding body and a grainy texture.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, a dark color, and a deep, rich flavor.
- Flour
- Its starch adds further thickening so the pudding sets to a soft, spoonable consistency.
The step that matters
Boiling for four hours with occasional stirring. As the thickening starches cook, the mixture gets heavy and can scorch on the bottom of the pan. Stirring keeps the heat even and prevents burnt flavor, while the long cooking fully gelatinizes the starches for a smooth, set texture.
“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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