Shahi Falooda / Royal Falooda

Falooda is a popular Indian layered dessert with very different textures and components. The layers consist of rose syrup, vermicelli, tukmaria seeds, jelly, rose milk, fresh fruits and nuts and vanilla ice cream. The recipe and the process looks very elaborate but if you make all the things ahead of time it will be very easy to assemble just before serving. Tukmaria / Sabja seeds / sweet basil seeds are available in Indian stores and it is entirely different from Chia seeds. Tukmaria or sabja seeds are believed to have a lot of health benefits and you can read about it here.... There are a lot of different versions of Falooda recipes and I liked Ria’s version of vermicelli cooked in milk to a kheer than just boiling in water. So here is the recipe for one of the most beautiful looking desserts for you…

Shahi Falooda / Royal Falooda

Ingredients:

For the Vermicelli Payasam / Kheer:

½ cup Semiya / Vermicelli

2 cups milk

⅓ cup Sugar

¼ tsp cardamom powder

For the Rose Milk:

1 ½ cups cold milk

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp Rooh-Afza / Rose Syrup

For the Tukmaria:

1 tbsp Tukmaria / Sabja seeds / Sweet Basil seeds

1 cup water

For Falooda:

1 packet Strawberry / Raspberry jelly / jello

2 tsp Rooh-Afza / Rose Syrup

Fruits of your choice like Straberries, banana, apple etc, chopped

Vanilla Ice Cream

Pistachios / Cashew Nuts / Almonds, to decorate

Mint Leaves to decorate

Method:

For the Vermicelli Payasam / Kheer:

Bring 2 cups milk to a boil, add ⅓ cup sugar and ½ cup Semiya / Vermicelli and cook till the vermicelli is soft and the mixture is thickened, stirring often.  Add cardamom powder, mix well and turn off the heat. Chill until use.

For the Jelly:

Make jelly by following the instructions on the packet. Cool and refrigerate. Once cool, cut into small cubes and set aside.

For the Rose Milk:

Add 2 tbsp Rooh-Afza and 1 tbsp sugar to 1 ½ cups cold milk and chill till needed.

For the Tukmaria:

Soak Tukmaria / sabja seeds / Sweet Basil seeds in 1 cup water for 20 minutes and allow to bloom. Drain the water and set aside.

To Assemble Falooda:

In a tall glass add a tea spoon of Rooh-Afza / Rose Syrup, followed by 2 tsp of tukmaria, a couple of table spoons of vermicelli kheer, chopped fruits and jelly cubes. Pour some rose milk to cover the assembly. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and garnish with sliced nuts and mint leaves and serve immediately.