Living On Tulsi Time

We grew Tulsi this year.  A bit of a challenge to grow in zone 5, but we did.  All of the garden centres in the area claim they can't provide stock in plant form, or in seeds.  We ordered the seeds from a source on Amazon.  One can also get a hold of the seeds from Johnny's Select Seeds.  There are other names it comes under; Holy Basil (not to be confused with Thai Basil, or Holy Herb), Ocimum tenuiflorum and tulasi .  It can come in the form of tea, dried powder, essential oil , or mixed with ghee.  It is believed to be a stress reliever and is also used as a healing herb in several cultures. 

We found that it grows pretty slow.  It took months to get to this point.

Here is the major reason we decided to grow it!  Sean loves to cook Thai cuisine.  

We dedicated a whole garden bed to Thai plants for delicious meals made by Sean.  

We even have a Kaffir lime tree under LED grow lights for the lovely flavour in our Thai dishes.

Purchased in California and brought back by Sean's father.

Here Sean is making Tom Yum - Thai Mushroom soup.

This is the recipe he used:

http://www.thaitable.com/thai/recipe/mushroom-tom-yum

 

We got to use some of our Kaffir lime leaf in this soup!

Second course is Pad Prik King.  This is the recipe he used, except his is a Pescetarian version with some adaptions:

http://hot-thai-kitchen.com/pad-prik-king/

The first adaption is tofu cutlets instead of chicken.

The second adaption was using the Tulsi in the dish and as a garnish.

We also had fried garlic and peanuts as a garnish.

Our Tulsi had to be brought in...It was truly living on Tulsi time when a arctic blast brought us very cold temps. and lots of snow.  Grows lights are the remedy.

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