FIVE must have edible plants for any Home Garden

I have prepared a list of FIVE MUST HAVE edible plants.

These are easy to maintain and can be used for everyday cooking.

1) Curry Leaves  

This is an ever green plant and if grown on ground it can become a big tree.

This plant loves sunshine and water.  

Water it deeply once a day and weekly pour diluted buttermilk into the soil. 

Keep picking on the leaves for your everyday tadka and chutneys as the mature leaves tend to get brown black spots on them.

Give it a good pruning before monsoon and enjoy the plant become bushy.  

The mature plants will give out small offsprings around their main stem in the adjacent soil. Do tend to it and if the pot size is big then let it remain in the same soil. 

2) Mint   

Mint also loves sunlight and lots of water. 

If there is semi shade where mint is growing do not fret, it just makes the leaves larger :)  

Mint tends to dry very easily in Mumbai' salty air, keep watering your mint and fertilize with a handful of compost once in 10 days.  

Mint is super easy to propagate, when you get stems from the market please remove all the leaves and pick some sturdy stems and keep them in a glass of water by your sunny windowsill or balcony. Once it shows small root growths, transfer them onto a pot with well draining potting mix. They grow very well and may take over the entire pot.

3) Betel Leaves  

These are again easy to grow.

Betel leaf is a creeper and it loves to grow horizontally though it will climb up a moss stick

You will enjoy plucking a few leaves post your leisure Sunday lunch, adding a few condiments and sweet gulkhand (fancy making it at home with a few homegrown roses?) to it and relishing it as a lovely mouth freshener or even a post meal digestive!

We went a step ahead and made paan shots one day, will try to add the recipe in my cooking blog.

4) Cuban Borage/ Karpuravalli (also known as ajwain leaves by many)  

This is also a lovely shrub to have in one' garden. They will happily grow in pots and spread beautifully on ground.

I have sweet memories of this one, when it would rain very heavily and my mum would be making bhajjias or pakodas I would happily volunteer to go out into the garden and get a few leaves.   

These make some really amazing bhajjias just dunk in besan batter & fry.  

5) Basil (All varieties)  

India is home to the native Holy Basil (Tulsi) so basil grows very well in India.

It loves the sun and loves to be watered daily, in summers twice a day too! Once a week your could give it a quick shower of water in the mornings. They don't like the soil drying out so make sure you do regular watering. 

Pinch off any flowers to encourage more growth of the leaves and branching of the main stem. You have to repot new stems, as in you could prune a branch remove the leaves and bury it in soil for a new plant. Do it every monsoon to have many new plants.

If you are growing edible plants like tomatoes or brinjals etc in your garden, do sow basil in between a few plants. If you are growing plants in pots then keep small pots of basil or even mint in between plant this helps to ward off pests!

There are a ton of varieties of basil

Some of my favourites are 

a) The Holy Basil --  

not used in the kitchen but we use it in our pooja room and once in a while when the plant gets a big trim, I try to make a garland for our home temple with basil. (At home we believe Lord Krishna loves basil, am sure he loves everything) 

b) The Italian Basil --  

the leaves of this one are broad, the leaves bright green, tender and super yummy.

They work so well in the kitchen, I add them to our breakfast eggs, weekend dinners of pizza or pasta and I love it most in my basil cashewnut pesto! You could even sneak them into salads and garnish soups. The aroma is super soothing.

c) The Thai Basil --   

this is another super aromatic variety and seriously everyone should have this one!!!

Even if am not making Tom Yum soups or Tom Khah with these, I sometimes cut a stem which has a flower or two and add it to my vase with flowers. It has a very refreshing fragrance and the fragrance remains in your hands too just like all basils! So this one is like an added decor item to your desk 🙂 

This is a list of plants which I feel are super easy to grow and one which you would regularly use in your kitchen. 

I hope your enjoyed the list and the description. The pictures used in this post all belong to me and are from my garden.  For any more queries or doubts please feel free to ask away in the comments section. 

You could also follow me on instagram @eternalblissnityaanand