Every summer, like the roses, childhood returns. -Marty Rubin
The first time that I tasted falooda was during my first visit to India. I was nine and it was love at first sip.
If any one of the locals in our ancestral village where we were staying had judged my sister and I by our fancy dresses and shoes to be prim and proper children upon our arrival, within the next days, it was known throughout the village that we were merely children, not any different from the local village children as we joined them in running around barefoot, walking in knee-deep, muddy waters chasing frogs, climbing jujube trees (belonging to other villagers) and feasting upon their fruits and lighting up with delight at the mere mention of falooda. This refreshing, part-beverage, part-ice cream dessert is the perfect solution to staying hydrated and cool during hot weather. My first taste of it still lingers in my memory and the longing for it, as well as, my childhood memories attached to it, surface every summer.
I must have been well into my teenage years when my parents brought home from the local Indian grocery store a bottle of rose syrup. You can imagine how excited I was when they explained that this was the missing ingredient we needed for making falooda at home here in Canada. For a short while after that, we enjoyed homemade falooda topped with a scoop of store-bought vanilla ice cream. It never really did taste quite like the ones I had enjoyed in India and the half-emptied bottle of rose syrup made its way to the back of the fridge only to be discarded months later, I imagine.
In recent years, I have tried desperately to achieve the particular taste of Indian falooda but to no avail and finally gave up. Although, this recipe here will not give the taste of the authentic, traditional Indian version, it is quite delicious, and as a bonus, on a much more healthier side with the use of strawberries.
Strawberry Rose Falooda
(serves 2)
- 150 g strawberries, hulled
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 tbsp maple syrup (or honey)
- 2 tsp tukmaria seeds (or chia seeds)
- 2 tsp rosewater
- 2-4 scoops ice cream (strawberry, vanilla or pistachio flavoured…. recipes to come!)
- some crushed ice (optional)
- Soak tukmaria (or chia) seeds in 1/2 cup warm water and set aside for about 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally.
- When ready to make falooda, strain seeds and discard the water.
- Using a blender, puree strawberries, milk, maple syrup and rose water.
- Divide strawberry milk equally between two glasses.
- Stir in half of the seeds into each glass.
- Add crushed ice if using.
- Top falooda with ice cream and serve with a straw as well as a spoon!
Note: Using strawberries helps to give the colour pink of the traditional recipe. Alternatively, raspberries also work perfectly well here, but just remember to pass the raspberry milk through a strainer when pouring into glasses to remove the seeds which can be rather annoying. (Strawberry seeds aren’t as annoying.)
conifères & feuillus 
Great blog I enjoyyed reading
Thank you so much!
Hi Annika!! have mentioned you in this post. Keep putting the inspirational content that you do 🙂
Thank you for your kind words!
Lovely Annika and I just asked my hubby who grew up in an Indian family about falooda – he’d not enjoyed it as a child – his loss as it looks so yummy!
Thank you! Haha… I guess everyone has their preferences but overall, it’s a well loved beverage among Indians, he certainly is the exception to the rule.
Beautiful pictures! This looks and sounds delicious😋
Thank you dear Ursula!
It’s funny how we discover something and want to duplicate it, but can never really get it perfectly the way we remember it to be.
Haha… funny and sometimes very frustrating… the only good thing is that it sometimes leads to other pleasant discoveries!
Love falooda 😍 especially rose falooda, this post literally is what I need now
Haha… hope you had a chance to make it!
Hopefully soon 😊
How amazing how food can bring back childhood memories like that. The fotography is stunning and your style is so you, and original. Beautiful Annika.
Thank you dear friend!
oh my.. this looks so good Anika! I love strawberries and milk.. never use chia seeds, but this may be the time to try.
Thank you! I love strawberries and milk as well (I actually have a post on it!) … chia seeds adds a healthy twist and well, ice cream just makes it into a dessert! Hope you try it!
Annika, having never had the original, I’d be spared that bit of longing, and this sounds absolutely divine. Your photos are particularly gorgeous!
Mollie
Hi Mollie! Thank you so much… If you have never had the original then you are all the luckier as you won’t know what you are missing… but you will surely like this version!
It is so gorgeous, Annika!
Thank you!
Beautiful blog and pictures. I am nominating you for the Liebster award. ❤ Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much, you have me blushing. I so appreciate your thought to nominate me but I will have to turn you down at the moment as I will not have time to participate. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
very yum recipe 🙂
Yes, it really is… I do hope you try it!
Lovely, as all your recipes, pictures, and stories! I imagine it tastes pretty awesome, love the ingredients and it seems quite straightforward to make. It’s hard to recreate the flavors of home (although good). Tonight we’re making a dish we enjoyed in southern Italy a few weeks ago, and I bet it won’t taste like the original even if we bought the main ingredient (dried fava beans) there….
Thank you so much! It is a simple recipe… a little different for Westerners but much loved in India. And you are right, it can be hard at times to recreate the flavours of another country…this makes it that much more interesting and pushes us to be creative in the kitchen… not such a bad thing! I am sure you came back with tons of culinary goodies from Italy… excited to see the new dishes you create!
That looks delicious!
It really is… do try it!
Nice to add rose water, guess it makes falooda so refreshing!
Thank you so much!