Falooda

- Submitted by Dahlia

(Faloodah, Faluda, Mumbai roadside Falooda)

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My husband had been to his team party and was boasting about the Falooda that was served there. My little girl got so curious and wanted to taste that. I promised her that I will make Faloodas at home when she comes back after her playtime. My husband knows it so well that I never tried Falooda in my life and smiled sarcastically. I took it as a challenge and said that I will be ready within the next one hour.

Falooda is a dessert or rather a refreshing snack made with a combination of rose syrup, chilled milk, cooked vermicelli (falooda sev), sabja (Indian Basil) seeds and vanilla ice cream. My early memories of falooda are having it from street vendors outside our school in Mumbai. Nowadays falooda is served in bakeries and big restaurants. It looks exoctic but is quite easy to put together provided you have all the ingredients on hand.

Falooda is usually assembled and served in tall glasses to make each layer visible. The first layer is of cooked falooda sev. Falooda sev is a type of vermicelli that is specifically used for this. It can be replaced with regular vermicelli or thin pasta. It is then topped with rose syrup. If you have prepared jelly, you can add a few jelly cubes next. Boiled and chilled milk is sweetened with sugar and added as the next layer. Soaked sabja (basil) seeds are added in the milk. It is finally topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and garnished with some chopped nuts. Every layer adds a different texture which together makes this a delicasy.

My little angel was back and shouted out of excitement seeing the mouth watering Falooda. We now make this yummy Falooda often at home as our evening snack.

Recipe For Falooda

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

• Milk - 2 cups
• Takmaria (Sabja or Basil Seeds) - 1/2 tsp
• Falooda Sev - handful (NOTE: If you do not have falooda sev, substitute with normal sev or any thin pasta.)
• Rose Syrup - 3-4 tbsp (NOTE: If you do not find rose syrup, substitute with rooh afza and 2 tsp of rose water.)
• Sugar - to taste
• Vanilla Ice Cream - 2 scoops
• Cardamom Powder - a pinch
• Pistachios/ Almonds - 1 tbsp (coarsely ground)
• Vanilla Ice Cream - 2 scoops

Method

1. First soak the takmaria in water for an hour or until the seeds swell up. 
2. Cook the falooda sev as per packet instructions. ( Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the broken sev and cook it for 3 minutes. Drain the water, run cold water over it and keep aside.)
3. Bring the milk to a boil and switch off. Mix in the sugar and cardomon powder. Let it chill in the refrigerator.
4. If you want to add jelly, prepare it according to package instructions.

Once all these are ready, you can start assembling. After this step you have 2 options.

Option 1 (If you are making it ahead of time for a party.)

4. Mix the rose syrup,  cooked falooda sev and soaked sabja seeds to the milk. Refrigerate it till you are ready to serve.
5. Serve this chilled mixture in individual cups topped with some vanilla ice cream and ground pistacios / almonds.

Option 2 (If you plan to serve immediately.)

4. Take a tall glass and add some ice cubes and some cooked sev at the bottom.
5. Add the rose syrup next followed by the milk.
6. Next add the soaked takmaria seeds.Top it with a scoop of ice cream and some crushed nuts. 
7. It will be a wonderful presentation to see the different layers.

Tips

• You can make this with skimmed milk to make the falooda healthy.

Variation

• Some different variations that I have tried are Kulfi Falooda, Mango Falooda and Tricolour Falooda. Replace kulfi for ice cream and you get tasty Kulfi Falooda. For mango falooda, replace rose syrup with mango pulp and top with mango ice cream. For tri colour falooda, I replace rose syrup with kiwi crush and top with mango ice cream.

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