The Royal Falooda

What is a falooda? According to Wikipedia, a falooda is an Indian Mughalai cold dessert made with vermicelli. It originated in Hyderabad, India. [1] ^[2] It has its origins in the Persian dish faloodeh, variants of which are found across West, Central, South, and Southeast Asia. ^[3] Traditionally, it is made by mixing rose syrup, vermicelli, and sweet basil seeds with milk, often served with ice cream. ^[4] The vermicelli used for preparing falooda is made from wheat, [5^] arrowroot, cornstarch, or sago. ^[6]

We returned from our trip yesterday evening, and to culminate the trip, we went to an Indian restaurant. My boys ordered falooda as their dessert. When the bill came, my husband was surprised to see that each cost $13.99. So, how was it? It really failed with my special son. My special one never shares his dessert, but for this one, he just gave it to me when he was half way done, and my younger son was struggling to finish it. We then analyzed the reason for that and found it had a lot of fruits in it. The usual ones that we have in Pittsburgh have just rose milk, ice cream, vermicilli, and basil seeds. The one we had was filled up with more fruits, and I would say that did not settle well with my special boy.

I had to browse the internet to find out more about it. Yes, for a dessert for which we paid nearly fourteen dollars, I think it needed more analysis. The dish has undergone so many different variations in different parts of the world, and this restaurant, by adding fruits, has just made its own variation.

Last week, at an Indian store, I found an instant Falooda mix package. My husband said we needed to try that at home and come up with our own variation of the same dish. Of course, the next time we are at the store, we are going to get it. If I can come up with a good combination of different ingredients, I too can create a royal falooda, but I would definitely not charge fourteen dollars.

Oh, by the way, my mom, during her pregnancy with me, craved for it and did have a lot. I had so many allergies growing up that my parents never got me this. There are too many reasons why I am a bit obsessed with it. I am keeping my fingers crossed to create my own falooda.