Food talk
Basil basics

The sublime tulsi paneer can be cooked in a jiffy, writes Pushpesh Pant

THIS one we owe to Minu a.k.a. Harleen Kohli, a friend with many talents and diverse interests. We suspect she doesn’t take our culinary interests seriously but we, on our part, greatly value her innovations in the kitchen.

There was a time when she went on a detox diet sustaining body, mind and soul on juices: gheeya, palak, karela and other veggies. Then came the fascination with organic produce. She continues to take an interest in vegan stuff and it is hard to keep pace with her fertile imagination. She seldom shies of experimentation and has no patience with persons who have nothing better to do than toil joylessly for hours in the kitchen. The other day we were exchanging notes about fast cooking hassle free but flavourful dishes that are also nutritious and good to look at. Now, it slips the mind how and why exactly kasoori methi was mentioned when Minu interrupted with, "Have you tasted the tulsi mere aangan ki?"

For a moment me thought that yours truly was being quizzed about a forgettable Hindi film of yesteryear. But when she stepped out nimbly to crush under our nose a large leaf of sweet basil we knew we had reached an exciting threshold. Sweet basil is a valued herb in Western repertoire and we too in India have for generations benefited from it as an effective home remedy. The leaf of sweet Tulsi is much larger and has a much stronger aroma. Dried stuff is even more potent. Sure beats the hell out of
kasoori methi.

The colour of this delicacy is a coral hue — more pink than red and hardly any fat goes in the cooking. Clotted cream is — so we tell ourselves — is for the garnish and can be easily removed if you are in the denial mode.`A0 What must be ensured is that the tomato puree used is freshly made and is not mass produced pre-packaged variety. Great stuff — simple yet sublime.

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