National Indian Pudding Day: Simple Recipe And Quotes About The Mouthwatering Dessert

Indian pudding, the delicacy served in winter has its roots in England where it first burst into the culinary scene as Hasty Pudding. The latter is the old variant of Indian pudding which originated in the 17th century.

Initially, the hasty pudding was being made by boiling wheat flour in water or milk until it thickened into porridge. However, early colonists brought the dish to America and it got a native American upgrade. They replaced the flour with cornmeal while the sweetening agents used in the dish were either molasses or maple syrup.

Topped with a lot of whipped cream and some cinnamon, the dish comes off as a decadent dessert embodying the fall spirit. The rich and creamy indulgence may not be the most elegant-looking dessert but has great potential to satisfy the taste buds when served straight out of the oven. To commemorate this dessert, National Indian Pudding Day is celebrated every year on Nov. 13.

In case you are planning to whip out some Indian pudding at home, here is a simple recipe.(Courtesy: Simplerecipes.com)

Ingredients:

Milk- 6 cups

Butter- 1/2 cup

Yellow cornmeal- 1/2 cup

All-purpose flour- 1/4 cup

Salt- 1 teaspoon

Molasses- 1/2 cup

Eggs- 3 (beaten)

Granulated sugar- 1/3 cup

Cinnamon- 1 teaspoon

Nutmeg- 1 teaspoon

Golden raisins- 1 cup, optional

Vanilla ice-cream or whipped cream

Procedure:

Place a bowl on a double boiler and heat the milk and butter. Alternatively, heat the milk and butter in the microwave for 5-6 minutes. Wait for it to come to a full boil. Transfer the milk to a pot on the stove, keeping it on medium heat.

Preheat the oven to 250°F. Take a separate bowl, add the cornmeal, flour, salt and stir in molasses. Make the mixture thinner by adding some more milk, a few tablespoons at a time. Then, shift the mixture back to a large pot of scalded milk. Cook, stirring until thick.

Beat the eggs and slowly add half a cup of the hot milk cornmeal mixture while whisking it constantly. Add the mixture back into the hot milk and cornmeal mixture and stir continuously to combine.

Place the mixture on a shallow casserole dish and bake for 2 hours at 250°F. Allow the mixture to cool for an hour. Serve.

Here are two famous quotes about the Indian pudding that speak volumes about its popularity. (Courtesy: Whats cooking America)

• "It is light of digestion, and the English make a kind of Loblolly of it to eat with Milk, which they call Sampe; they beat it in a Morter, and sift the flower [flour] out of it; the remainder they call Hominey, which they put into a Pot of two or three Gallons, with Water, and boyl it upon a gently Fire till it be like a Hasty Puden; thye put of this into Milk and so eat it."- John Josselyn
• "And all my bones were made of Indian corn.Delicious grain! Whatever form it take.To toast or boil, to smother or to bake,In every dish ’tis welcome still to me,but most, my Hasty Pudding, most in thee."- Joel Barlow