Hi, all! Hope you’re doing well and staying warm in the snowstorm! I have a fun and interesting recipe for you today- jam made with basil seeds rather than with pectin or another thickener! This came about from my work where one of my patients, a man from India, was describing to me a drink that he makes using basil seeds (known as tukmaria) and water. I started researching basil seeds a bit more, and found that they’re a lot like chia seeds: rich in soluble fiber and omega-3 fatty acids, and really good at making whatever fluid they touch turn into a gel-like substance (due to the soluble fiber they contain). My patient gave me a package of basil seeds to try, but having had the experience of drinking chia seed goo and hating it, I knew I had to go a different avenue. I remembered an episode of Great British Baking Show where a baker made a jam using basil seeds, and figured I’d give it a go! Here’s my experimental take on basil seed jam that, happily, yielded great results!

Ingredients:

• 16oz frozen or fresh strawberries
• 12 oz frozen or fresh raspberries
• 1 tbsp sugar (more or less to taste)
• 3 tbsp basil seeds (can also use chia seeds, and can adjust amount for desired thickness of jam)

First, put the fruits in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until the fruits are really soft and cooked down. You may need to mash a couple bits of fruit, but for the most part they should cook down to a liquid on their own.

Brief pause for a word to the wise- be on the alert when your fruits are starting to really get cooking. I stepped away for several minutes to do the laundry and the pot boiled over- absolute disaster as you can see in the picture below!

Anyway, back to the recipe! Stir in the sugar and the basil seeds and remove from the heat. Wait 5-10 minutes.

After 5-10 minutes are up, your basil seeds should have absorbed most of the liquid and turned the mixture into more of a preserve-like texture. It’s ready to be jarred and eaten! This especially struck me as something that would be AMAZING with plain or vanilla yogurt.

You could definitely swap the basil seeds out for chia seeds in this recipe and have fine results, and you could also use almost any other fruit that you like! I just wouldn’t use apples because they carry natural pectin and gelatinize on their own when cooked, and if you added basil seeds or chia seeds you might end up with too stiff of a gel. Have fun trying this out and using your own choice of fruits- it was a fun adventure for me and I hope it is for you as well! Happy cooking!