Scent leave (the Nigerian basil leaves ) is widely known for it's strong and beautiful aroma,
Here in Nigeria it is cultivated by almost everyone that has a farm land and that's the more reason you can't see the dry ones very easily except you dry it yourself.
We tend to sundry or dehydrate our basil leaves only if we want to send it other countries but here in Nigeria , the most common and widely used is the fresh ones.
It's local names
Here in Nigeria scent leave (the Nigerian Basil) has its own local names which are:
In Igbo land it is called nchanwu,in Yoruba land it is called efirin while in Hausa land it is called daidoya. It also has different other local names depending on the ethnic group.
Delicacies you can find the basil leaves
The Nigerian basil leaves is used to prepare different delicacy especially the local delicacies like
- Pepper soup
- Beans porridge , potatoes porridge
- Local jollof rice (palm oil rice)
- white soups etc
- Plantain porridge
Medicinal use
The Nigerian Basil is used to prepare different medicine here in Nigeria.
1> it is a great and effective worm repeller:
Many families use these leave to prepare their special worm repeller ,
You just have to squeeze out the water and drink it very early in the morning before eating anything.
Believe me it works like magic.
2> the extracted water is also used to cure stomach ache but these time we combine it with bitter water.
3> heartburn:
It is said that constant eating of the scent leave helps to cure heartburn
There are other medicinal use but these are the ones my mom told me .
The leaf is loved by many because of its wonderful taste and it's ability to transform the taste of your food but most especially it is used for garnishing.
Where I found it
Like I said before ,the Nigerian basil is widely cultivated by almost everyone who has a farm land but this particular one was purchased from a local store in my neighborhood, it is very cheap like ,
It is sold 100naira in my local currency which is not up to half hive .
IN conclusion:
The Nigerian basil has a sweet strong aromatic flavour and it's used to prepare different local delicacies.
It's also used to prepare local medicines which are very effective .
It is used for garnishing our food, it's green color adds beauty to our delicious delicacies.
Thanks for reading till the end.
Yours faithfully : yummycruz1
first image designed on pixallab