Falooda- Served two ways....

While the list for the alphabet based blogging was made months ago, changes were made almost every day. One alphabet that kept evading me was this F!

Then last week, I made Flax seed dinner rolls stuffed with a tasty mushroom curry. Since I was not sure if it would be savored by everyone at home, I made just 6 rolls / buns and the moment it was out of the oven, it just vanished. I was happy on one side and extremely disappointed on the other side.

Something that I experimented turned out well and it was liked by all and there was even a scramble for the who would eat the last one! But all this happened even before I could think of clicking a pic!

I was breaking my head trying to figure out what I could prepare and Minnie of Lady8home came to my rescue.She proposed the challenge for the South theme in the South Vs North Challenge and she had chosen Falooda! Yay,problem solved...

South Vs North Challenge is a food community started of Divya Pramil of You Too Can Cook . The group is divided into 2 groups - North and South team based on where they hail from.The members of the opposite group pose challenges each month to the other group and the challenge is to prepare and post it.

Falooda or faluda is a sweet and chilled beverage that is made up of several ingredients and is a very popular summer chiller.

This is of an Indian origin but is said to have come here during the Mughal rule.There are plenty of versions of this delicious dessert and even a few countries have their own versions!

I have followed Minnie's version and made the two versions that she has suggested. One is the Falooda that is served in the tall glasses with ice cream and the other one is the Kulfi Falooda that is served on a plate. Until I saw her recipe I had no idea that there was this kulfi version !

The major difference between the two types of Falooda, apart from the way it is served, is that the kulfi version has more of vermicelli in it when compared to the ice cream version

F- Falooda
Theme - Regional

For the Kulfi Falooda.
Source - Minnie

I used:
[Single serve]

Kesar Pista Kulfi - 2 chunks,cubed
Vermicelli - 1/8 cup [see note below]
Milk - 1 cup
Pistachio nuts - 2 tablespoons, chopped
Charoli seeds / Chironji seeds - 2 tablespoons
Rose syrup [Rooh Afza] - 2 tablespoons
Basil seeds- 1/8 teaspoon soaked in 1/4 cup water
Saffron strands- a scant pinch soaked in warm milk

Heat the milk and add the vermicelli and cook till just done. Add the saffron soaked in milk, mix and remove from heat. Let it come to room temperature and chill it in the fridge.
Place the pista kulfi pieces in the centre of the serving plate.
Pour the vermicelli - milk mixture around it.
Pour the drained basil seeds on it.
Drizzle the rose syrup on the kulfi and the vermicelli mixture.
Garnish with pista and Charoli nuts.

Serve immediately....

Note :

Falooda Sev is supposed to be used here. Since it is not available, I used the thinnest variety of vermicelli[Anil brand]

Ice cream Falooda

I used
[Single Serve]

Vanilla ice cream - 2 scoops
Vermicelli - a little less than 1/8 cup [see note below]
Milk - 1 1/2 cups
Pistachio nuts - 2 tablespoons, chopped
Charoli seeds / Chironji seeds - 2 tablespoons
Rose syrup [Rooh Afza] - 2 tablespoons
Basil seeds- 1/8 teaspoon soaked in 1/4 cup water
Saffron strands- a scant pinch soaked in warm milk
Wafer rolls -2, to garnish [optional]

Heat 3/4th cup milk and add the vermicelli and cook till just done. Add the saffron soaked in milk, mix and remove from heat. Let it come to room temperature and chill it in the fridge.
Add the rose essence to remaining milk and chill in the fridge till required.
In a tall serving glass, place the 3/4th of the chilled vermicelli and milk at the bottom of the glass.
Place the basil seeds[drained] over it.
Top it up with the rose milk
Next comes the ice cream and pour the remaining vermicelli over it.
Garnish it with pista , charoli nuts, wafer rolls and drizzle a little rose syrup and serve immediately.

Serve immediately with a tall spoon.

Note:

Invert a spoon at 45 degrees into the glass while pouring the milk to get separate layers. But that did not work for me. The layers got mixed up but the taste was awesome...

I loved this challenge as this was something I wanted to prepare for a long, long time but forgot about it while making the list. Luckily South Vs North Challenge came to the rescue!Minnie, my kids loved both the versions and I shall be making it often. Thanks for the awesome recipes.

Take a look at the Blogging Marathon page to check out what my friends are cooking in this A- Z series...