Tulasi Gets Her Bath

 In winter, Tulasi can suffer taken indoors into dry, heated homes in the west, since  she likes humidity. This in turn makes the infamous appearance of spider mites. To keep them away and keep Tulasi happy, spray under her leaves morning and evening. For smaller pots of Tulasi, a sprayer attached to a sink works well.

At the same time, Tulasi doesn’t require much water in winter. The drips afterwards are plenty for weeks. Only if her pot feels light and soil dry, give her a nice drink. Don’t wait until her leaves curl: it puts a strain on her. Best if the watering is followed by a sunny window. In other words, do not water at night, so not to invite soil diseases brewing underneath. I’ve never tried it, but in that case I’ve  heard that dried cow dung as a top dressing to soak in can disinfect the soil. Cow dung is naturally antiseptic. 

Keep her on a sunny window ledge during the day and remove her in the evenings, so she doesn’t catch a chill.

Caring for tulasi helps us build a relationship with her and pleases Lord Krishna very much.

Fresh Coriander Storage

Some people grow it and cut it as needed. Which is ideal. But to store it can be challenging. It doesn’t do well in plastic bags from the grocery store. Some suggest storing it with the tips submerged in water. Others say wrap it in a paper towel. Somewhere came the idea to wrap it unwashed in an absorbent cloth, then put it in the plastic grocery bag.

 Periodically, remove any aging leaves and stems . Also at least once, replace the cloth with a fresh, dry one and turn the plastic bag inside out so any trapped moisture accumulated can get evaporated. With this method the coriander leaves can stay good for at least a couple weeks!

DIY yogurt

Do you ever wonder how villagers in India make yogurt without getting some already made at the store to use as a starter to make your own? Well, several videos on YouTube show how it’s possible. Some make it from tamarind pods or chilies with stems intact. And others from a piece of lemon. 

We decided to give it a try. 

Basically you get a little warm milk, enough to cover a slice of lemon and its peel. Then keep it in a warm place for about 16 hours. In the following example, a warmed oven was used, and it got  warmed up again, as needed, in between time. I also keep a couple iron cast skillets in the oven. To keep the warmth in there.

The result was yogurt!

Now the observant will notice two pieces of lemon were used in this case. That’s because I spaced out and left the oven on too long. The heat kills the culture and perhaps whatever was on the lemon. So it got cooled down again and a second piece of lemon was  added, just in case. 

The finished product usually tastes a little lemony.  And maybe even more so this time around because of the inattentiveness. But the trick is to boil a bigger pot of milk and use this starter to make the bigger pot of milk into yogurt next.

After that turns to yogurt ( in about 5 hours ), bottle and refrigerate that amount to be used for making more pots of yogurt, using the amount needed in proportion to how much milk is used. This lessens any aftertaste over time. 

We tried chilies, too, and worked just as well. 

Speaking of yogurt, also know as “curd” in India, click here for some tips for the best ways to serve or eat it.