Your summer bae-sil: Here's how you can make sabja a part of your diet

Sweet basil seeds are just what the doctor ordered for the scorching heat that’s wearing Mumbai down. Experts decode its benefits and how to make sabja a part of your diet

Long before chia seed pudding became cool, sabja or sweet basil seeds were the summer favourite. Bubbling up in fruity faloodas and refreshing sherbets, the little black seeds have long been a part of the arsenal to battle scorching heat in India and Southeast Asia, shares Dr Nidhika Bahl, an integrative nutritionist and the founder of Health Talk World. “Sabja seeds have a cooling effect. They are known to lower body heat and soothe the stomach,” she says. 

Seed of life

A powerhouse of nutrients, sabja seeds, Dr Bahl adds, are packed with health benefits:

. They are a good source of minerals like iron, calcium, and magnesium. They also contain soluble fibre, which can promote gut health, blood sugar control, healthy cholesterol levels and appetite control.

. The seeds help reduce flatulence, cramping and indigestion. They’re rich in plant compounds, including flavonoids, which provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and anti-cancer benefits. 

. Sabja seeds are a great plant source of Omega-3 fats, making them good for skin and hair.

Drink, bake, create

Sweet basil seeds should be soaked before consumption. Chef consultant and culinary expert Reetu Uday Kugaji reminds us to pick out the husks or stones, before soaking.  From rose and khus sherbets to whole-grain pancakes and pastas, the possibilities are endless when it comes to using sabja. Take for instance, Bohri gol paani, shikanji, smoothies, ice-creams, panna cotta, oats chilla and overnight soaked oats, points out Kugaji. “How about giving curd rice a twist? Skip the rice and replace it with soaked sabja,” the chef tells us. Raita, soups, and home-made bread and cakes could also use a helping of sabja, Dr Bahl suggests. “Sabja seeds’ bland flavour allows them to blend in easily. While baking, grind and use them to replace part of the flour, rather than adding them soaked. You can also replace eggs in bakes with soaked sabja. Use one tablespoon of sabja soaked in three tablespoons of water to replace one egg,” she instructs.

Kiwi pineapple and sabja popsicles 

Ingredients 
. 500 gm fresh pineapple juice 
. 100 gm chopped pineapples 
. 3 kiwis sliced 
. 3 kiwis puréed 
. 2 tbsp sabja 
. 1/2 cup water 
. 10 popsicle sticks and moulds

Method 
Soak the sabja seeds in water for half an hour. Mix the pineapple juice, kiwi purée and one tbsp soaked sabja. In the popsicle moulds, add the rest of the sabja, top it with kiwi slices, chopped pineapples, and fill it up with the kiwi-pineapple-sabja mix. Place the sticks and freeze for eight hours. Demould and enjoy. If you want to make a chatpata version, add half a tsp each of red chilli powder, salt and 
chaat masala.

Manisha Solar, founder, Bombay Popsicles

Alphonso and passion fruit sabja pudding

Ingredients
. 4 tbsp sabja seeds 
. 200 ml coconut cream  
. 500 ml coconut milk (thick) 
. 2 Alphonso mangoes 
. 4 passion fruits 
For the topping:
. 8 tbsp Alphonso cubed
. 8 passion fruits halved 
. Shavings of coconut 

Method
In a glass bowl, pour coconut milk, and add sabja seeds and mix. Set aside for 10 minutes. Purée the mangoes and passion fruit separately. In eight glasses, spoon the sabja seeds once they swell up and absorb the milk. Layer each glass with coconut cream. Then, add a layer of the mango purée and the passion fruit purée. Top the pudding with cubed mangoes, passion fruit halves and coconut shavings. Refrigerate for an hour, at least, and serve chilled. You can add coconut sugar or organic honey or maple syrup to the pudding.

Chef Reetu Uday Kugaji

Sabja pudina buttermilk

Ingredients
. 2 tbsp sabja seeds 
. 1 cup curd 
. 2 sprigs pudina 
. 1 small green chilli 
. 1-inch ginger 
. ½ tsp cumin seeds (toasted and ground) 
. 3 ice cubes
. Salt as per taste 

Method
Soak the sabja seeds in warm water for 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the buttermilk. Churn the curd in a blender with green chilli, pudina leaves, ginger, salt and ice cubes for about a minute. Pour the mixture into a big bowl and mix in the cumin powder. Now, add the soaked sabja and mix well. Add half a glass of water or as needed to get the desired consistency.

Dr Nidhika Bahl

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