Why it works: Flour and milk 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 ↓
Indian Griddle-cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Sift and mix together cornmeal, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Add beaten eggs and milk, mixing until smooth.
Cook and serve
Heat a griddle over high heat and pour batter to form cakes.
Cook until browned on both sides.
Serve with syrup.
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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and milk 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
- Cornmeal
- Forms the bulk of the cakes and gives them their coarse, grainy texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Adds structure so the cakes hold together when turned.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as the cakes set.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that lifts the batter so the cakes puff and stay light.
- Milk
- Hydrates the dry ingredients and makes a pourable batter that browns well.
The step that matters
Cook until browned on both sides. Cakes need enough heat to set and brown on the first side before turning. Turning too early can tear them, while a griddle that is not hot enough leaves them pale and doughy inside.
“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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