Why it works: Buttermilk and molasses work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 526 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Indian Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine buttermilk, molasses, salt, and baking soda dissolved in hot water.
Stir in enough Indian meal and wheat or graham flour to make a thick batter.
Let the mixture stand in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Steam
Steam the batter for 3 hours.
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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Buttermilk + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together526 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Buttermilk + wheattop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Molasses + wheattop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together702 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Buttermilk
- Provides acidity that reacts with the baking soda to lift and lighten the batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk and molasses to produce gas that makes the bread rise.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and a deep flavor to the bread.
- Indian meal
- Forms the main body of the bread, giving it its coarse, crumbly texture.
- Wheat flour or graham flour
- Adds structure and helps the batter hold together as it thickens.
The step that matters
Dissolving the baking soda in hot water before mixing. Baking soda must be fully dissolved and evenly distributed so the acid in the buttermilk and molasses reacts throughout the batter, giving an even rise without pockets of soda.
“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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