If you love Indian Desserts, this Guide is Your Sign to Make the Beloved Falooda at Home

Falooda is a multilayered treat in a glass, and a popular Indian Dessert enjoyed by many in India and across South Asia. It's a treasure trove of textures and flavours. The chilled milk, sweet sabja, vermicelli noodles that you can slurp, rose syrup which brings a floral sweetness and balances the sweetness of the ice cream, and cubes of jelly that sink to the bottom of the glass, all come together to create a delightful treat that’s hard to resist.

Of course, there are variations like kesar falooda and dry fruit falooda. It’s the perfect dessert for a hot day, and can be enjoyed as much as a beverage as a dessert. It’s also a surprisingly easy dish to make. Here’s how!

Ingredients

For Soaking Sweet Basil Seeds

• ½ tablespoon sabja seeds or chia seeds
• 59 ml water or add as required

For Cooking Falooda Sev

• 5 tablespoons falooda sev
• 2 cups water

For Making Falooda

• 6 tablespoons rose syrup or add as needed
• 6 tablespoons soaked sabja seeds
• 12 tablespoons cooked falooda sev
• 35 ml milk – chilled or cold
• 4 scoops Vanilla Ice Cream
• 12 pistachios – unsalted, sliced or slivered
• 12 almonds – slivered or chopped
• 12 cashews – chopped
• 12 raisins

Directions:

• In a bowl, fill some room temperature water and soak the sabja seeds for about 30 minutes. Set aside. Once they have swelled, use a strainer to remove all the water and transfer the soaked seeds back into the bowl. Set aside.
• Cook the falooda sev in hot water until they’re well done, much like cooking pasta. Boil water on medium heat and once it comes to a boil, add the sev. You can decide if you want to keep the sev long or break them into smaller pieces and then add to the water. Cook until they have become soft. Use a strainer to get rid of the water and transfer the cooked, soft sev to a bowl. Cover and set aside so they can reach room temperature.
• If you're using nuts, chop them up and place them in a small bowl. Set aside.
• In a tall glass, or multiple glasses, depending on how many glasses of falooda you're making, add rose syrup. How much you add depends on the size of the glass and how much sweetness you want. A good rule of thumb is 1 spoon for a narrow glass.
• Then add the sabja seeds to the base of the glass.
• On top of the seeds, add a layer of the falooda sev.
• Slowly, pour 1 cup of milk into each glass.
• Then top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
• Garnish with the raisins, pistachios or other nuts.
• Serve immediately, with a spoon.

Notes, tips and tricks:

• You can easily reduce or double the recipe. You essentially just need to create each element and then repeat the assembling process with each glass.
• There’s no need to add sugar or other sweeteners, since the rose syrup is sweet enough on its own. Even with the rose syrup, be careful not to add too much or the sweetness will be overpowering.
• Before you pour the milk in, you can also add jelly cubes to the base of the glass.
• Once the milk has been poured in, gently stir with a spoon so that all the rose syrup mixes. But do not be too vigorous with the stirring or the sev and jelly will break.
• If you prefer, you can add a lot of nuts to make it a dry fruit special falooda, or on the other hand even skip the nuts altogether.
• If you want to make a vegan falooda, use a vegan milk like almond milk or soy milk, or any other milk of your choice, use vegan ice cream and vegan jelly if adding.
• The leftover sabja seeds and sev can be stored in the fridge. They will both stay well for about 4 days.
• If you have leftover sabja seeds that are already soaked in water and have swelled, you can add them to your lemonade or even make a chia seed pudding with them. Or you can put them in water and drink, since they are very healthy and full of fibre.