Purple basil sherbet
A cooling sherbet from eastern Anatolia, made with purple basil, that turns pink with lemon.
Ingredients
- 1 large bunch of purple basil
- 1 litre of water
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 4–5 tablespoons of sugar (to taste)
Method
- Boil the water and take it off the heat.
- Add the washed basil, stems and all; cover and steep for 15 minutes.
- Strain; while it is still hot, stir in the sugar until it dissolves.
- When cool, add the lemon juice; it will turn from purple to pink. Chill and serve.
The colour change from purple to pink comes from the anthocyanin pigment in basil reacting to the acid in lemon.
Basil: the science, drug interactions and sources →