Falooda or faluda is a popular Indian summer dessert drink made with various layered elements such as milk, ice cream, and rose syrup. Served in restaurants and even on the streets in many Indian cities, this popular Indian dessert is perfect for warmer weather and outdoor dining. Learn how to make this refreshing falooda recipe with my step-by-step video and photos.
Table of Contents
What is Falooda
As I mentioned at the beginning, falooda is a cross between a dessert and a drink. That’s why I like to refer to it as a “dessert drink” only. You can sip on a beautiful compilation or dig through the layers and savor the decadent flavors. Both a spoon and a straw are therefore absolutely mandatory for falooda.
A little about its origin: The Indian ‘falooda’ comes from its Persian counterpart ‘faloodeh’. It reached India between the 16th and 18th centuries when many Central Asian dynasties invaded and settled here. Then the Mughal Empire had a great deal of credit for its development into what it is today.
Sometimes called “faluda”, it is as popular in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan as it is in India, especially in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, and Gurgaon. Lest I forget, I also quite love the whole falooda! This falooda recipe is my favorite.
Although making falood is an easy task, it still requires patience to put all the elements together. You have to add one layer of ingredients after another until your serving glass or glass is filled to the brim.
The most common elements of almost all faloods are sabja seeds (sweet basil seeds), falooda sev (thin cornstarch noodles), jelly (optional), milk, ice cream, nuts, and dry fruits. Then it’s up to the individual what other flavors they want to add for a customized touch.
The ingredients you need
Falooda is not only delicious but also very cooling for summer. A few ingredients in it have a cooling character.
Sabja seeds: These small black seeds are sweet basil seeds and are also known as tukmaria seeds. Sabja seeds are cooling for the body. Substitute chia seeds for sweet basil seeds if you can’t find them.
Rose Syrup: It is a thick red sweet syrup made from roses, sugar, and also refrigeration. For an authentic Faluda, I recommend making it with rose syrup. It gives the drink a beautiful floral aroma and a pink color. It is the only sweetener you need in this falooda recipe.
Falooda Sev: In Hindi, the word “sev” means noodles, and an authentic falooda recipe adds noodles made from cornstarch or arrowroot flour. That being said, for healthier options, you can use thin whole wheat noodles or rice noodles.
Jello or Jell-O: An optional element is a jelly (jello). Add any vegetarian or vegan fruit-flavored jelly-like strawberry, raspberry, orange, or mango jelly.
Milk: Prepare it with dairy or vegan milk. The milk must be cold or chilled.
Nuts and dried fruits: Glazed cherries, tutti frutti, cashews, almonds, and pistachios are some of the ingredients you can add.
Ice Cream: Although the preferred choice of ice cream is vanilla ice cream, other types of ice cream such as mango, orange, pistachio, butterscotch, and chocolate also work well.
Note that sweet basil seeds, falooda vermicelli, and rose syrup can be found at an Indian or Asian grocery store, or on Amazon if you live outside of South Asia.
Step-by-step guide
How to make Falooda
Soak the sweet basil seeds
1. First take ½ spoon of sabja seeds (sweet basil seeds) in a bowl. You can check for any peels or stones if any and remove them.
If you don’t have sweet basil seeds, substitute chia seeds.
2. Then add water and mix.
3. Soak the sabja seeds in water for about 20 to 30 minutes.
4. After 30 minutes you will see that the sabja seeds are fully soaked and will look gelatinous.
5. Use a fine strainer to drain the excess water from the sabja seeds. Cover and keep the soaked sabja seeds aside.
6. Meanwhile, start preparing the faluda sev according to the instructions on the package. Some only require soaking the falooda sev in warm water.
I had to cook them in boiling water just like noodles, so I heated 1.5 cups of water and let it boil.
7. Then add 5 tablespoons of sev (roughly ⅓ cup). If the faluda sev is long, then just break or chop them before cooking.
8. Cook in water over medium heat until the noodles are tender.
9. In the photo below, you can see that the noodles have softened and cooked well.
10. After cooking, drain them and drain the water. Rinse them under running water and set them aside.
Rinsing them will remove excess starch. Cover and allow the faluda sev to cool completely at room temperature.
Prepare the nuts
11. Chop the nuts to be added. I added some cashews, almonds, and pistachios. Raisins can be kept whole.
If you want, you can rinse the nuts and raisins in water before chopping them. I always do this when I use nuts and dried fruit.
Make Falooda ice cream
12. First add the rose syrup to each of about 4 tall serving glasses. You can add about 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of rose syrup depending on your preferred sweetness as well as the size of the glass.
13. Then add 2 tbsp of soaked sabja seeds.
14. Add 2 to 3 tbsp of falooda sev. After adding falooda sev you can add some jelly/jelly cubes or pieces if using.
15. Add about 1 cup of chilled milk in a slow stream, being careful not to mix the milk with the rose syrup and sabja seeds.
The layers must be visible and this makes falooda visually appealing.
16. Finally add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or pista ice cream or mango ice cream or malai kulfi.
17. Top with chopped pistachios, golden raisins, and sliced almonds. For a vibrant color, you can decorate with some glazed cherries or tutti-frutti.
18. Serve the falooda ice cream immediately. When drinking falooda, mix a spoonful of pink syrup settled at the bottom with milk, then drink and eat noodles, sabja seeds, and nuts.
