Wednesday 4 August 2010

Lemon- lavender Tea

Against my husbands wishes I went and bought a tiny lavender potted plant and love it to bits. Well I should be spanked for saying that cos most of my love is short lived. We have a total of 6 plants on our balcony of which the basil and parsley are actually struggling to live. The daffodils, blue bells etc etc died after they flowered and id like to think that's how their life cycle works. Our orange plant was such a delight when I picked it up from Borough Market last year. I'd paid quite a bomb for it and promised Ro with all my heart I'd look after it. And now, although its not died on me, I haven't seen an orange grow on it after we plucked the ones that came with it. Ro's constant disturbing question, 'you cant even look after an orange plant, how on earth are you gonna look after a kid.' Grinning from ear to ear wouldn't help, I guess :)
So anyways, purple is my fav colour and I've recently developed this obsession for lavender and have been researching it quite a bit, well more on the level of, where I can go and pick some fresh lavender...lavender farms near London etc. But never on what to do after I did pick some up. So after my lovely lavender baby was perched on the balcony sill, I had to prove to Ro I'd definitely cook with it. I posted a status message on FB asking what to do with lavender..Got a few replies, among which PJ's lavender tea made an impression. Well rather it sounded the easiest:)
Today it was raining cats and dogs and tea was just the thing I wanted. Did some research and figured I could make it without drying the lavender. The tea smelt so darn good and tasted just as I thought it would. Thanks PJ for the suggestion.

Like Joey from F.R.I.E.N.D.S says, 'thats like summer in a bowl,' in my case in a cup..but you get the idea right? 
For one cup tea you would need:
Tea bag- 1 (I used  Whittard traditional English tea bag)
Lavender flowers- 1 tsp (or more if you want a stronger flavour)
Water- 1 large cup
Lemon juice- 1 tsp
Sugar or honey- to taste (optional)
Bring a cup of water to boil and throw in the lavender flowers and the tea bag.
Let it boil for a few seconds and then take it of the flame.
After a minute or so, remove the tea bag, add the lemon juice and sugar/ honey and stir well.
Strain and pour into tea cups.
Another method would be to pour boiling water into a bowl with the lavender and tea bag. Steep for about five minutes.
Add the lemon and sugar and pour into tea cups. 
Serve hot with biscuits.
Notes: I'm definitely gonna try some other variations like basil and lavender, ginger and lavender etc :)

33 comments:

Suji said...

I love Lavender but never heard or tried them in tea...Lovely color...

Guna's kitchen said...

Oh my .. very fresh tea.. very intresting lemon-lavender tea.. luks very healthy.. added u to my blog friens list.. glad to found u

turmericnspice said...

love the smell of lavender...

Foodie Ann said...

I didn't know we could ingest lavender...I thought the soul purpose of lavender was to spread its fragrance....:D

GB said...

daffodils do die off after flowering. The bulbs will revive in spring...let them winter outside on the balcony!!!

Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said...

wow...my fav color,my fav flower and above all love teh flavor of lavender in tea...creative of u dear...looks fantabulous...too too good...do send in ur entries for my ongoing event A virtual treat...

RV said...

So you made a lavender tea.. Great choice and sounds aromatic.

Akila said...

Wow... What a refreshing tea... just love it....

Nitha said...

Love the colour.. Never got a chance to smell or taste it.. Wonderful clicks and I love the design on your cup n saucer..

aipi said...

never heard this combo before..looks gorgeous..

Torviewtoronto said...

looks beautiful haven't had lavender

Ms.Chitchat said...

Very refreshing tea,interesting too esp the lavender aroma in tea.would like to try too.

PranisKitchen said...

i like the lavender.. i like the smell. lavender tea never tasted..looks so good and lovely shots

Hari Chandana P said...

Woww... wonderful tea.. looks perfect dear.. beautiful presentation :)

Sushma Mallya said...

Such a unique flavoured tea,never tried lavender,very interesting one nisha..

Sanjeeta kk said...

Beautiful cutlery and good clicks. Comforting tea.

Satya said...

wow what a refreshing tea but can't imagine this with lavender flavor ...beautiful clicks

Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

never cooked lavender and really dint have any idea how to do anything with them. loved this idea of picking some flowers from the garden and adding them to the tea. the flowers are beautiful and the tea definitely is great.

arthi said...

never heard about this..unique one..thanks for sharing!!

Vrinda said...

Never had lavender tea,sounds very aromatic...

Sandhya Hariharan said...

Awesome....
Quite a bold try. .cooking with lavender :)
I came across the Lavender farm in weekend in london.. and we were smelling lavender for 1 mile :)

My Kitchen Antics said...

hey can you tell me where in/ near london is the lavender farm???? i def want to go visit :)

Priyanka said...

Nisha you are my sister by blog. I love purple with all my heart and plants, well....I do have a green thumb but forget about plants to easily..So I hear ya on both the things!

Sandhya Hariharan said...

I was travelling to Croydon Costco from Kingston..... It came on tat way...
Let me browse and get some more info..

Sandhya Hariharan said...

Just browsed... and it is the Mayfield Lavender Farm ..
http://www.mayfieldlavender.com/

Located in Surrey :)

TREAT AND TRICK said...

Sounds interesting, never tried lavender before, beautiful clicks too..

Unknown said...

Wow they look gorgeous!

Kulsum@JourneyKitchen said...

I'm obsessed with all things new. When I hear or read about something I have to get it and like you, what to do with it comes around only when I have already bought the thing, see it sitting around for a while and then Wo I realize I have to use it !

Something similar happened when I bought some dried Lavender which was quite expensive. I take it out every other day but just haven't come around using it. Tea sounds good though.

By the way the love the picture; )

Padhu Sankar said...

Refreshing tea and lovely pictures!

PJ said...

nice! so you did make a good use of the lavendar. i was wondering after your fb post what you would make with it. i love lavender tea and i can almost smell it from here ;)

Unknown said...

Nice presentation...lovely clicks

Lakshmi ...Rasoi ki Malkin..northern and southern spices said...

Lovely presentation of healthy Tea

Shanthi Krishnakumar said...

refreshing and healthy.