A Simple Recipe for Parsi Falooda on Navroz

Falooda is a delicious Parsi drink made with milk and rose essence, sabja seeds and lots of ice cream, to mark Navroz, the Persian New Year.

The Parsis observe Navroz with new clothes and spring-cleaning. The house sparkles with rose and jasmine. “We start the day with rawa, a dish made of semolina that has been cooked in milk for a long time over a slow flame, topped with nuts and raisins – to start the year on a sweet note. And we have falooda when we return home after prayers at the temple, to cool down after being out in the afternoon sun.” Read more about Freny and the Parsi Navroz tradition here.

Recipe: Freny Bharda's Falooda
Serves 6

Ingredients
1 litre milk, chilled
Rose syrup, to taste 
3-4 tbsp sabja or sweet basil seeds
1 cup rose water
4 tbsp cornflour
Ice cream, 6 scoops

Method
Soak the sabja seeds in rose water using a sieve. They will swell up within a minute.
In a non-stick pan, cook the cornflour in a cup of water until it becomes a lumpy mix. Push the mixture through a sieve into a pan of ice below. It will fall through like tiny white pearls. Allow to remain in cold water until it is time to assemble the drink.
In a bowl, combine the sabja seeds and white pearls.
Pour in the milk, and slowly stir in the rose syrup. Mala's or Kissan will do. The rose syrup will turn the milk a pretty pink colour.
Pour the pink mix into a tall glass and top with a generous dollop of ice-cream. Serve immediately.

This recipe is a #1000Kitchens feature!

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