The Cream Team

Chai, Chia, Floral Falooda 

Rose Sugar Chai Chia Float

Hi Tea'm, 

We got a taste of warmer weather this week. Even saw a 60'F Day! It felt fantastic after the brutal winter. At The Chai Bar Kitchen, we brewed a tea'liciou Indian delicacy- Falooda/ Faluda. 

A rose-flavored chai & chia ice cream float layered with vermicelli noodles. 

Falooda was founded in Persia; it was known as "Faloodeh". The dessert came to Medival India with Central Asian merchants. Variants evolved with the rule of the Mughal dynasty. The Chai Bar's Special is Falooda with a Tea'wist

Traditionally, this layered drink is made by mixing rose syrup, vermicelli noodles, holy basil seeds, milk, and ice cream.  

A textural treat, falooda is smooth, crunchy, creamy, and super interesting. A must try for those with a sweet tooth #bonus its pink and pretty, totally #instaworthy

Falooda is usually made with the cousin of chia seeds- Sabja (holy basil seeds), also known as "Tukmaria." You can get these at your local Indian grocery store. But if you have chia seeds on hand, you can swap sabja for those. However, sabja seeds have a sweet earthy aroma which the chia seeds won't add.  

Sabja seeds are full of health benefits, so if you do end up buying some for this recipe, you can use them the same as chia seeds. Add them to overnight oats or soak with your fav fruit and almond beverage for a vegan snack. 

Sabja seeds are rich in fiber, good fats, and calcium; they have more protein content and fewer calories than most other seeds. 

Ayurvedic texts rave about the benefits of sabja seeds, including their metabolism-boosting properties and their ability to lower the risk of cardiovascular ailments. 

We arent saying drink a falooda a day =P, but you can surely include a daily dose of sabja seeds in your breakfast. 

Add em to your water with your fav herb or botanical for a fun, fiber-filled thirst quencher. 

Swap dessert with sabja overnight oats- this can lower blood sugar levels. Their ability to regulate blood sugar is why they are added to the sugary faloodas as a balancing agent. #bonus these special seeds are good for gut health and have pectins- known to lower cholesterol absorption. 

They are full of minerals; rich in calcium, iron, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids. 

For a healthier version of this recipe, swap corn flour vermicelli with whole wheat vermicelli noodles whole wheat "seviyan noodes". 

For a rich recipe, we use full-fat milk - boil 2 cups till the milk reduces down to one cup; you can make a lean recipe by swapping the whole milk with almond milk :) If you want a creamy no-moo-brew, use full-fat oat. 

You can use home-made pink chai-scream for this recipe, or if you live in Philly, get some from Milkjawn

For the tea'wist, we made rose syrup by mixing 2tbsp Rani Rose Sugar with 4tbsp Gulabi- Kashmiri Pink Chai Kava. 

(Find how to make kava HERE) 

You can also make a simple rose syrup by mixing Rani Rose Sugar and water. 

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 1 

INGREDIENTS 

2 cups full-fat milk - reduced to 1 cup (or 1 cup almond milk)

3 tablespoon rani rose sugar organic

1 tablespoon sabja seeds (or substitute with Chia)

2 tablespoons chai Rani - rose sugar syrup (prefer organic)

½ cup falooda sev or any thin vermicelli or semiya

2 scoops chai-scream 

INSTRUCTIONS 

Boil the milk until it reduces to half. Chill it for 6 hours. Then mix in 

Rani Rose Sugar. 

Wash falooda seeds and soak them in a bowl of water for 2 hours.

Then drain and set aside. 

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a pot. 

Add the vermicelli, turn the heat off, agitate the vermicelli by stirring it and cover the pot for 5 mins. 

Drain excess water and set it aside.

ASSEMBLY

Take a tall serving glass or tumbler. 

Add the sabja seeds at the bottom.

Next, add vermicelli.

Pour the chai rose sugar syrup.

Slowly add the milk 

Top off with a scoop of chai-scream 

Garnish with nuts/ rose petals or rose sugar. 

Serve falooda immediately.

Usually, falooda is served after a spicy lunch like biryani. 

If you want to turn this into a weekend brunch, we have Tas'tea Pairings for you. 

Since falooda is a sweet cooling treat, we would pair it with spicy snacks. 

Like Girmit, i.e., masala puffed rice, traditional to north Karnataka. Or spicy stuffed long pepper fritters. 

Find more spicy snacks on the chai bar blog. 

We hope you enjoy this pretty Persian dessert. Does your family have a special falooda recipe? What is your tas'tea pairing for falooda? Tell us in the comments below. 

Chai Bye (or should we say Chia) #punintended


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