Indian Pudding--one lump or two?

[sedauny]

Having had a wonderful Indian pudding a couple of weeks ago, I am attempting to replicate it for a birthday party tomorrow. I have never attempted Indian pudding before and I quickly discovered that it is much harder to avoid lumps than I expected. I added the meal in a thin stream, but it lumped. I even put the stuff through a strainer, and

Comments

[ozmissage]

It sounds delicious! I hope it turns out well for you. :)

[sedauny]

Thanks for the good thoughts. It came out pretty well, and I didn't see anyone dropping their portion in the wastebasket, but I do think that it was the ice cream that really made it good. It's not as tasty with just cream, in the morning. A little more sugar would help--or maybe molasses.

[elliotsmelliot]

Cool! I have never heard of this dish. What does it taste like?

[sedauny]

What? Canadians don't have Indian pudding? (Runs off to check copy of the Purity Cookbook, fails to find Indian Pudding, boggles.) Maybe not, maybe it's a New England thing. I call it a "glorified cornmeal mush" and that's pretty close--cornmeal cooked in milk with sugar, spices and eggs added. Most of the time around here it's flavored with molasses and cinnamon and is very runny, eaten hot with ice cream. The molasses and cinnamon sort of take over the taste and the cornmeal gives texture. My version was quite solid--cornmeal custard, not mush--and came out a little less sweet than I would have liked. It has more of a cornmeal flavor with a good hint of nutmeg. It's okay heated and with cream poured over, but heated and with ice cream was much better.