Basil perhaps is blind at first after choking smoke (7)
I believe the answer is:
potherb
'basil' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both things that one consumes for nourishment as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'is blind at first after choking smoke' is the wordplay.
'at first' indicates taking the first letters.
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'choking smoke' becomes 'pother' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The initial letter of 'blind' is 'b'.
'b' after 'pother' is 'POTHERB'.
'perhaps' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for potherb that I've seen before include "this for season" , "Flavouring plant" , "sage?" , "Vegetable for flavouring" , "Plant grown for culinary use" .)