It was a bit of a worry to read that your basil is scared! but I soon got that mistake sorted!

Sacred or Holy Basil CAN be used in cooking. As proof, I offer this recipe:

Prawn and Holy Basil Stirfry
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely chopped
1-2 chillies (or to taste), finely chopped
1 onion, sliced or chopped
1 cup shitake mushrooms, sliced
1-2 cups chopped green prawns
2-3 cups cooked egg noodles
handful holy basil leaves (sweet basil may be used)
1 cup shopped spring onions
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
juice of 1 lime
chopped roasted peanuts to garnish

Heat a little oil in a frypan until smoking. Stir in the garlic, ginger, chilli and onion. Add mushrooms, stir for 1-2 minutes until half cooked. Stir in the prawns, cook until they turn slightly pink. Stir in the noodles until heated through, then add the basil, spring onion, sugar, fish sauce, sesame oil and lime juice. Stir until basil leaves have wilted. Serve sprinkled with peanuts.

My first reaction to the title is that the only thing my Basil is scared of is frost.

Linda:

Thanks so much for this topic. One thing that stands out for me is the chance that I might acquire seeds that will produce plants with CRIMSON flowers rather than purple. That would really be icing on the cake.

I will now begin asking Hindu acquaintances whether they can provide seeds from India.

Thanks again.

Bill

Here's a nice quote from Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking:
Mention tulsi and a Hindu will immediately fold his hands in the eternal worship gesture. This religious association with basil dates back to the Vedic period. Today a Hindu home is considered impure without a tulsi plant growing at the entrance.

Here we associate basil with Italian pesto sauce. In Indian cooking basil is used sparingly for two reasons: First, most varieties of basil cultivated in India are quite aromatic and sharp and hence are used only with certain foods and preparations. Examples include holy basil tea made with ginger essence and honey; and camphor- or basil-laced pea and pumpking stew. Second, the long and deeply sacred association of holy basil with the supreme god of creation Vishnu has been a constant deterrent to its use in cooking.

The chief kinds of basil cultivated in India are holy basil (Ocimum sanctum), known as Vishnu tulsi, white basil (Ocimum album), known as biswa tulsi, and camphor basil (Ocimum kilimandscharicum), known as kapoor tulsi.

The camphorous basil, grown extensively in the lower hills of the eastern Himalaysit is called the secret herbis used by the rural and hill tribes to flavor legume stews.

Er, that would be pumpkin stew.

Bill, if your Hindu friends don't have seeds, Richters does. Be aware that they've been taking three to four weeks to arrive, due to shipping and cross-border delays. I'd also be wary of saving the seeds from this year's plants for next year because of possible cross-pollination with other basil varieties; perhaps others can say whether this is possible.

NY Gardener:

Thanks for the tip.

I would probably grow the Tulsi in a container if I wanted to save seeds. That way I could move it to an enclosed environment (or bag the blossoms and vibrate them to pollinate, or hand pollinate, I guess). The other basils I grow are used mainly for pesto, so I grow them all jumbled up in the garden wherever I have some space between tomatoes.

I have saved seeds from the best Cinnamon basil plant each year, but find that after a couple of years, the seeds produce plants with smaller leaves, more intense flavor, and tend to take on rather "weedy" characteristics. So, now I plan to use only packaged seeds.

I'm also trying a new basil this year called Blue Spike. So far, it has much greener leaves than the Cinnamon, grows much slower, and the edge of the leaves seem a little less serated. We'll see.

Anyway, I'll try that seed source you provide; but what I would really like is some seed that will render Tulsi with crimson flowers. Any suggestions?

Bill

Well, DeBaggio Herbs in Virginia are basil aficionados; they don't ship plants, but might be able to help or point you toward someone who can. It's worth inquiring from Richters, for that matter, since they're often experimenting with new varieties and are in contact with growers. You could try the Herbs forum on GardenWeb Australia. An online Indian gardening or culinary group might be a good place to ask as well.

Good luck! Let us know how you do.

nygardener Bill

Regarding your comment about The chief kinds of basil cultivated in India are holy basil (Ocimum sanctum), known as Vishnu tulsi, white basil (Ocimum album), known as biswa tulsi, and camphor basil (Ocimum kilimandscharicum), known as kapoor tulsi. . . .well, I'm curious as to where you found your information, because it is certainly different than the information which I have found (see sources quoted above), sources which are highly respected in the "world of herbs". Now don't get me wrong, because this isn't supposed to be a debate, and I find your information interesting, but it is definitely in contrast with the sources I have found.

You don't even mention Ocimum tenuiflorum syn. O. sanctum which is mentioned by DeBaggio & Belsinger, Bown and the Herb Society of America just to name a few. So I'm very curious about just where you are getting information that varies so much from the sources that I quoted.

Are you of Indian descent? Do the Indian people have their own different botanical names which differ from what we use in the US and the UK? I'm very curious where you obtained your information because I would like to do some further research on the subject.

Thanking you in advance.

Hi Linda,

Sorry if my post was confusing.

My source was the book by Julie Sahni I mentioned above. She's an Indian native and has written several Indian cookbooks. I hope my post made it clear that I was quoting from her book (page 78), not offering her words as my own! I myself am not of Indian descent, but Ms. Sahni is.

On my browser, all four paragraphs I quoted are shown indented, as I intended. Yours may show them differently; in any case, I could have used quotation marks to make it more clear.

"Ocimum tenuiflorum syn. O. sanctum," as I read it, means that Ocimum tenuiflorum and Ocimum sanctum are alternative Latin names for the same plant, which Ms. Sahni refers to as Ocimum sanctum only, not mentioning that it has another Latin name. This seems to jibe with the names used by all of your sources. I was merely offering a cookbook author's perspective (Ms. Sahni's, not mine) on the use of the herb, and suggesting some possible places to find it.

The passage came to mind because this is one of my favorite cookbooks, and one I consult frequently. Her Pumpkin and Split Peas with Camphor Basil (Lau Dal), a dish from Assam (near the border with Myanmar, formerly Burma), warmed my kitchen recently. It seemed like a good way to use up some frozen late-summer basil and a pumpkin that had survived sitting for months on a cold windowsill!

I hope that clears things up!

Bill,

Thank you. I really appreciate your input. We have been having an on-going discussion within our herb group about the "holy and/or sacred basil" issue. And everywhere we look, we seem to find something different.

I really do appreciate your insight, and since I am a fan of Indian cuisine, I have to check into purchasing Ms. Sahni's cookbook. I love vegetarian Indian cuisine, and since we don't have any good Indian restaurants down here, I either have to travel back to Houston or cook myself. The latter is what I do the most, and any information is truly appreciated.

Thank you.

Linda

Well, sure. Here in New York (which has a very large Indian population) there are some excellent mail-order sources for more mundane Indian ingredients, like spices and grains. One of them is Kalustyan's. That's where I bought the book in the first place, and I go there regularly for fresh supplies. Happy cooking!

ltcollins1949 - You seem to have done alot of research into this confusing subject of the sacred vs. holy basil. I'm also trying to clear up some confusion, and hopefully not adding to it here. When people refer to 'sacred basil', are they talking about the Thai 'sacred basil'? I understand there's a Thai basil, different from the culinary Thai basil commonly sold at nurseries. This 'other' Thai basil is called 'kra pao' or 'krapow' and even Thai Sacred Basil. Where does that fit in? Many people are confused by this, including myself. Is this 'kra pao' the same as Tulsi? Maybe a different cultivar?
thanks, basil108

Here is an online source to buy tulsi seeds.www.horizonherbs.com sells three kinds of tulsi seeds.

Horizon herbs and seeds of India.com are good sources.I do have few other minor variants called as Lakshmi tulasi from India

OK wow, some off kilter information here.

First holy basil WILL NOT cross with Italian basil. They are different species. Cultivars of holy basil will cross with each other however.

Second "Krishna" is only a single cultivar of holy basil. It is not the name by which all holy basil is known. The varieties with which I am familiar are Krishna (tastes of pepper), Rama (tastes of clove), Vana (tastes of anise and technically a different species but still commonly considered a holy basil), and Amrita which is an intermediate variety between Krishna and Rama that is grown in the area for which it is named. I don't know what it tastes like nor how it originated. It does seem to breed true at least in that area.

A fifth cultivar appears to be African basil and is commonly called "temperate tulsi". I think there is a variety that was also called temperate tulsi that was originated by Abundant Life Seeds? I think? I have also seen this called Kapoor, but other references state the two are different. That's all I know about that - well one other thing. O africanum smells like Bazooka Bubblegum and tastes of tutti-frutti. Yech! YMMV.

Third - holy basil is commonly used in cooking. I don't know where Julie Sahni is coming from with that comment but one Indian is not all of India. In India it is most commonly to be used as a garnish and to flavor drinks such as lassi, and, of course, in numerous tisanes widely considered to be very very healthful indeed. In Thailand, which is now mostly Buddhist but has strong roots in Hinduism even to this day, it is very VERY commonly used in cooking. The reason we don't see it much here is that holy basil is a tropical perennial plant with a long growing season that few places in the US can accommodate, and the fresh leaves have an uncommonly short shelf life.

https://www.archanaskitchen.com/tulasi-and-beetal-leaves-rasam-recipe

https://food.ndtv.com/recipe-tulsi-ajwain-ka-mahi-tikka-952870

https://cookpad.com/in/recipes/11173427-tulsi-modak

https://cookpad.com/in/recipes/11079473-fried-kholar-beans-with-napa-kidney-beans-with-naga-basil

https://cookpad.com/in/recipes/10526973-basil-stick-with-cottage-cheese

Where the specific varietal is not mentioned in a recipe, they probably mean Krishna. You could always grow both Krishna and Rama and decide which you prefer, or use some mix of both. I doubt they mean Vana as that is commonly known as wild holy basil and why wouldn't they just call it that.

Please know that dried holy basil is very different from fresh, as is true of Italian basil.

Note that the rajma dal (kidney bean) recipe calls for Napa or Naga basil, which I have seen elsewhere identified as Wild Lemon Basil. I'm guessing that may be Vana (O gratissimum) or a related cultivar but I'm not sure. I have seen it identified by one source as O citriodorum which is simply lemon basil and is a cross between O americanum and O basilicum. It is used in Thai cuisine, common in Indonesian cuisine and ubiquitous in Laotian cuisine and I find it odd that it would be part of a distinctive regional cuisine that far northwest of its other distributions on or near the Indian subcontinent, but it could have been introduced along with chili peppers (prior to the arrival of hot peppers in India, black pepper was the king of spices). Given that the source in question didn't seem to know what holy basil is AT ALL I wonder. At any rate I have no idea what Naga basil is in actuality. That dish is identified as part of the cuisine of the Naga people of northern India. Maybe lemon basil doesn't grow well in India so Indians who are cooking Naga food substitute what they know, eg holy basil, for it. No clue.

I'm going to guess that there is a north/south divide where Tulsi is more commonly used in dishes other than drinks in the south of India than in the northern parts. Julie Sahni is a north Indian and I have found all of her cookbooks to be very strongly oriented to the northern cuisines and often the moghul cooking that is absolutely NOT the norm anywhere in India amongst regular folks. Julie Sahni is not an authority to go to for information on all Indian cuisine, just her part of the country. Her later cookbooks were less chauvinistic than the early cookbooks but I'd look elsewhere for more balanced ideas of what Indian cooking is all about. I freely admit to a strong bias myself towards south Indian cuisine.

You have to start tropical varieties of holy basil about 12 weeks (you can probably get away with as little as 6 in warmer areas of the US) in advance of putting them out and you can't put them out until temps are over 70F. You should start hardening them off when temps reach 60F. It has a growing season in excess of 120 days, does not tolerate frost at all, and established plants do poorly when temps dip below 50F. It grows well in zones 10 to 12 - outside of parts of southern Tejas, southern Florida, and Hawaii it will not grow well in the US except as a tender perennial that is started indoors well before you plan to put it out. It requires some light to germinate. I have seen it recommended to "hold the seed up to the light before planting" which is of course utter nonsense, but at any rate - light sensitive germination. Cover thinly. Provide plenty of supplemental light during germination. Use a heat mat set to 75F and a dome. Water carefully to prevent damp off but don't let it dry out. It is often recommended to plant under a cloche or tunnel because it needs warmer soil temps than we usually achieve in many parts of the US until rather late in our growing seasons. It is often recommended to grow it as a potted plant for this and other reasons.

There are several potential sources for the named cultivars by now, possibly these sources were not available 10 years ago or whenever this thread originated.

Seeds of India now has all 3 of the common Indian Holy basil, eg Krishna, Rama (identified as Ram), and Vana. They state that Vana is clove flavored whereas all other sources I have seen identify that as anise flavored. I was planning to try it anyway but now I am more likely to do so as soon as possible. They also have a Thai basil and lemon basil.

Strictly Medicinal Seeds has all 5 varieties listed above (except possibly kapoor if it is different from O africanum and obviously excluding Naga basil since I have no idea what that actually is). Strictly Medicinal identifies their temperate tulsi as O africanum based on a genetic analysis.

Adaptive Seeds claims to have a variety they call kapoor that is supposedly directly descended from the Abundant Life offering, which they identify as 0 tenuiflorum. Either it is not temperate tulsi or it is not O tenuiflorum. The differences/similarities between kapoor, O africanum, and what is commonly known as temperate tulsi is murky at best. Adaptive seeds identifies theirs based on provenance alone. Might be interesting to grow the two and see how they differ and/or are similar.

Mountain Rose Herbs offers Tulsi seed which is not identified other than as "temperate" and which they link back to Krishna and Rama varietals, neither of which have anything to do with kapoor or temperate tulsi. There's no telling what that stuff is.

Botanical Interests offers a single variety that is described as smelling of bubblegum which they identify as Kapoor/temperate Tulsi.

There are several sellers of tulsi varietals on Amazon. I prefer to buy my seed directly from seed companies myself. YMMV. They do have several offerings for a seed packet of Kaprow holy basil directly imported from Thailand. I think the holy basil usually used for cooking in Thailand is either Krishna or closely related to Krishna but I can't be sure about that. Seems that buying seed directly imported from Thailand would solve the issue of wondering if you got the same stuff they use to cook with in Thailand. And yes, Thai holy basil is completely different from Thai basil.

O tenuiflorum and O sanctum are the exact same plants. Vana is O gratissimum and is reputed to be toxic to Leishmania. Drinking Vana tulsi tisane probably doesn't help with that. O. gratissimum and O. viride are reportedly partially cross-fertile - eg hybrids are sometimes, but not always, fertile. I have not found information pertaining to cross fertilization (or not) with O tenuiflorum.

Note that temperate tulsi grows better in the US than the tropical variety but I have so little interest in the plant that I haven't bothered to remember the cultivation details. It is apparently a bee magnet and is reputed to attract native as well as honey bees. I wonder if it might also be attractive to butterflies but have no information pertaining to that.