Indian Borage Herbal Tea

I’ve have a small apartment garden at home. It began with only three air-filtering plants which I purchased not only to improve the quality of air at home, but to ease my tired eyes due to too much screen time. Eventually, my little garden grew. I bought succulents and cactuses. I had common herbs like coriander and basil (which unfortunately did not survive when I went on a holiday). Recently, I wanted to try planting more local herbs, preferably hardy ones, and found Indian Borage.

I first discovered this herbal plant at Free Tree Society, a non-profit organisation which giveaway free plants on environmental days to encourage a love for nature. Baida, the president, suggested that I should try Indian Borage when I asked for something edible. I was told that it was good for cough. I didn’t know how to use it then, but I was sold because the plant emits a wonderful smell (and the thick, furry leaves is very cute!)

I had it for months for decoration and fun. I water and sniff the oregano-like scent every morning. It’s such a wonderful way to start my day. Initially, the leaves curled and turned brown. I wasn’t sure whether it was overwatered or under-watered. Then I found that the sun was too harsh, hence move the table away from the window. Now it’s growing so well I have plenty of new leaves. Still, I never harvested it until my friend, Patricia, who’s suffering from a cough came over two weekends ago.

A few hours before Patricia came, I plucked the leaves and simply boil them with honey dates. Oh, how I love that some of the most nutritious food is also the easiest. It’s delicious too. This recipe produce a drink that tastes pleasantly sweet with a mild herbal taste. It’s very soothing to the throat too. Here’s what you need and how to make it:

TOOLS

• Pot
• Strainer

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Boil 1.5 L water + 12 Indian borage leaves + 5 honey dates. Simmer until water is reduced to 1 L (45 min). Strain. Serve.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF INDIAN BORAGE

Upon checking an encyclopaedia of herbal medicine, I found that this herbal plant is used in Indian folk medicine as a digestive remedy. It became mainstream when western medical circle discovered that it contains forskolin, a powerful medicine for various problems including heart failure, glaucoma and bronchial asthma. You can read more about it at Wikipedia.

Now that I know it taste so delicious and is extremely beneficial to the body, I’ll be making it a lot more. Perhaps I need to plant another pot of this plant. Next, I’ll find how else to use this plant in my cooking. Perhaps to replace basil in spaghetti bolognese?

Why don’t you consider getting a pot of Indian Borage and make this tea too?