Thai basil panna cotta with watermelon salad

To make the panna cotta, reserve about 10 Thai basil leaves for decorating. Blanch the rest in hot water for 15 seconds, then refresh in ice-cold water, squeeze out any excess and chop finely. Put the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes to soak.

Meanwhile, in a pan, heat the cream and coconut cream over a medium heat until just simmering, take off the heat and stir in the sugar to dissolve. Squeeze out the excess liquid from the gelatine; add to the cream mixture. Once the gelatine has dissolved, pour the mixture into a blender, add the blanched basil and whizz until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve into a jug (discard any solids). Use a pastry brush to lightly grease 4 x 125 ml dariole moulds or similar with oil. Pour in the mixture; chill for 4-5 hours or until firm.

About 1 hour before serving, make the salad. In a pan, mix together the sugar, 200ml water, the lemongrass, lime leaves and ½ the lime zest. Cook over a medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes to form a syrup. Add the lime juice, then set aside to cool. Put the watermelon in a shallow bowl.

Once the syrup is cool, strain, then pour over the melon; chill until ready to serve. To serve, dip the bottoms of the moulds briefly into hot water and turn out onto plates. Serve with the salad and any remaining syrup. Decorate with the reserved basil and zest.