Holy Basil (Tulsi) Ice Cream

1. Put the tulsi leaves in a heavy saucepan with 1/2 cup of half-and-half and 1 cup of the cream. Heat until just steaming (do not let it boil), remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 30 minutes. Reheat the mixture until steaming, remove from heat and let stand for 15 more minutes.

2. While the tulsi is infusing in step 1, prepare the remaining cream and half-and-half over an ice bath. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of cream and 1 cup half-and-half into a medium size metal bowl, set in ice water (with lots of ice) over a larger bowl. Set a mesh strainer on top of the bowls. Set aside.

3. Strain the tulsi cream mixture into a separate bowl, pressing against the tulsi leaves with a rubber spatula in the sieve to get the most liquid out of them. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Add sugar and salt to the mixture. Heat until just steaming again, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.

4. Remove tulsi from the strainer and grind in a mixer. Add to the warm cream mixture.

5. Stir into the cold cream to stop the cooking.

6. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator (at least a couple of hours) or stir the mixture in the bowl placed over the ice bath until thoroughly chilled (20 minutes or so). Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

7. Once the ice cream has been made in the ice cream maker, it should be pretty soft. Put in an airtight container and place in the freezer for at least an hour, preferably several hours. If it has been frozen for more than a day, you may need to let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes.