sweet miscellany

It has been gloriously cloudy, rainy, and much cooler the past few days in my neck of the woods. It’s almost as if we hit September and Mother Nature decided to give us a gift after enduring another hellish summer. As far as I’m concerned, fall starts with the month of September so I’ve been using the first few days of the month to bring back all the cozy rituals I like to do this time of year. And, I’ve been racking up a lengthy list of baked goods to play around with in the kitchen now that I’m more inspired to turn the oven on. It’s entirely possible watching the latest season of Great British Baking Show miiiiight have had something to do with it 😉

I was craving a somewhat simple cookie, or biscuit as the Brits would say, to go with my tea. Since I finally replenished my cacao powder I knew it would probably go in the mix along with some flaky salt (obvs) and something herbal since I have a plethora of things from the garden drying in my studio at the moment. Thus, these vegan and gluten free biscuits were born.

Ultimately I decided to pair up rosemary and cocoa in these because it’s one of my favorite flavor combinations in baked goods. They contrast each other quite well as the resinous and piney flavors of the rosemary cut through the bitterness of the cocoa. Even though these are gluten free, I made it easy on myself (and you) by using only oat flour. Not only does oat flour perform well for binding, but it lends that signature sweetness of the oats themselves. These are finished off with a sprinkling of flaky sea salt to balance out the flavors and break up the mundane brown of the exterior.

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A homemade tulsi basil syrup is mixed with sparkling water for a refreshing and summery soda. You can use this vegan and gluten free syrup to sweeten teas and pancakes or to make other mocktails and cocktails!

Despite drinking tulsi tea for several years, this spring was the first time I attempted to grow it. Now that’s its been a part of my plant collection for several months, it’s hard to fathom my garden without its unique scent that hits the nose upon the slightest tousle of the leaves! The scent is hard to explain other than saying it is incredibly lovely and complex. It has hints of mint, licorice, and cloves along with a distinct fruitiness. Aside from smelling and looking beautiful, tulsi has been one of the few plants in my garden to endure and thrive in the summer heat.

Growing Tulsi Basil in the Garden

Tulsi is fairly easy to grow from seed or transplants. Once established, it is moderately drought tolerant and will survive and thrive through the heat of the summer. I have some planted in the sun as well as the shade and it grows well in both locations. In the sun it will flower significantly quicker than in the shade. Just like most varieties of basil, tulsi is sensitive to the cold weather. Make sure to harvest before any cold snaps or freezes. If you allow tulsi to flower, it will attract plenty of beautiful pollinators, particularly bees. It makes a good companion plant for any vegetables you are growing that need pollinating such as members of the nightshade family or squashes.

Herb Profile: Tulsi Basil (Ocimum sanctum, O. tenuiflorum, O. gratissimum)

A member of the mint family, tulsi basil (also called holy basil) is native to South Asia. The species name sanctum refers to the sacred nature of the plant. In Indian culture it is considered sacred to the Hindu god Vishnu who considers the herb to be an incarnation of the goddess Lakshmi. There are a few different types of tulsi basil though the most common in the United States (and what I grow at home) is Ocimum sanctum. Tulsi has been widely used in Ayurvedic medicine as a “rasayana herb” or one that nourishes a person to perfect health and promotes a long life.

Energetically tulsi can be slightly warming or cooling and has a pungent taste. In Western herbalism, it has a wide variety of uses though its most popular application is as an adaptogen. Adaptogens work by helping the body respond to stressors in a measured way which in turn provides balance by reducing the negative affects stress has on the physical and emotional body.

How I Use Tulsi Basil

In my kitchen, tulsi gets the most use as a digestive aid and a nervous system supporter. The most common way I use it is in tea (either fresh or dried) though I frequently use it in a culinary sense in much the same way as sweet basil. When using it as tea, I’ll brew a cup to enjoy after a particularly heavy meal, when my nerves are feeling a little frazzled, or just because. Lately, I’ve been making batches of tulsi syrup with the dried herb and enjoying it with sparkling water for a refreshing homemade soda! It’s super simple to make and has a lovely summery flavor.

Tulsi Basil Soda

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Author: Courtney West
Total Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 1 cup syrup 1x
Diet: Vegan

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Description

Ingredients

Units Scale

1 1/4 cups filtered water
1/2 cup dried tulsi basil leaves
3/4 cup raw sugar
sparkling water for serving

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Instructions

Bring the water to a boil in a small pot. Once it comes to a boil, remove the pot from the heat, stir in the tulsi, then cover the pot and allow the tulsi to steep for 20-30 minutes. Strain the tulsi out then add the infusion back to the pot along with the sugar. Heat the pot over medium heat. Simmer the syrup until it thickens and reduces by about a third. You want to have about 1 cup total of syrup. Store the syrup in an airtight jar. It will keep for a couple of weeks at room temperature though you can keep it in the fridge if you like.

To make tulsi soda: simply add however much syrup you like to sparkling water. For the glass in the photos I used about 1 1/2 to 2 tsp syrup.

Notes

You can use the syrup to sweeten tea, or anything else that you can think of (overnight oats, pancakes, etc.). You can also easily make this into a cocktail by adding a spirit like gin or vodka and topping it off with a slice of citrus.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Category: drink