The grassy stems of this delicious herb add a fantastic flavour to fragrant Thai curries and other Indonesian cuisine.

While it’s not a terribly attractive plant because of its coarse leaves, it’s best grown indoors at room temperature in the winter but can be put outside in a sunny, sheltered spot in summer. Sow seeds indoors at room temperature between February and May, potting the seedlings on when they are big enough to handle.

You will only need two or three plants at the most. Keep the plants in a sunny spot and you won’t need to do much more.

They should be kept well watered and will grow quickly, so will need repotting when the roots fill the old pots. If you don’t keep them in check, they can grow to about 90cm (3ft) in a couple of years. When the plants have thick, off-white stem bases they are ready for harvesting.