Shahi Falooda / Royal Falooda

Falooda is a popular Indian layered dessert with very different textures and components. The layers consist of rose syrup, vermicelli, tukmaria seeds, jelly, rose milk, fresh fruits and nuts and vanilla ice cream. The recipe and the process looks very elaborate but if you make all the things ahead of time it will be very easy to assemble just before serving. Tukmaria / Sabja seeds / sweet basil seeds are available in Indian stores and it is entirely different from Chia seeds. Tukmaria or sabja seeds are believed to have a lot of health benefits and you can read about it here.... There are a lot of different versions of Falooda recipes and I liked Ria’s version of vermicelli cooked in milk to a kheer than just boiling in water. So here is the recipe for one of the most beautiful looking desserts for you…

Shahi Falooda / Royal Falooda

Ingredients:

For the Vermicelli Payasam / Kheer:

½ cup Semiya / Vermicelli

2 cups milk

⅓ cup Sugar

¼ tsp cardamom powder

For the Rose Milk:

1 ½ cups cold milk

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp Rooh-Afza / Rose Syrup

For the Tukmaria:

1 tbsp Tukmaria / Sabja seeds / Sweet Basil seeds

1 cup water

For Falooda:

1 packet Strawberry / Raspberry jelly / jello

2 tsp Rooh-Afza / Rose Syrup

Fruits of your choice like Straberries, banana, apple etc, chopped

Vanilla Ice Cream

Pistachios / Cashew Nuts / Almonds, to decorate

Mint Leaves to decorate

Method:

For the Vermicelli Payasam / Kheer:

Bring 2 cups milk to a boil, add ⅓ cup sugar and ½ cup Semiya / Vermicelli and cook till the vermicelli is soft and the mixture is thickened, stirring often.  Add cardamom powder, mix well and turn off the heat. Chill until use.

For the Jelly:

Make jelly by following the instructions on the packet. Cool and refrigerate. Once cool, cut into small cubes and set aside.

For the Rose Milk:

Add 2 tbsp Rooh-Afza and 1 tbsp sugar to 1 ½ cups cold milk and chill till needed.

For the Tukmaria:

Soak Tukmaria / sabja seeds / Sweet Basil seeds in 1 cup water for 20 minutes and allow to bloom. Drain the water and set aside.

To Assemble Falooda:

In a tall glass add a tea spoon of Rooh-Afza / Rose Syrup, followed by 2 tsp of tukmaria, a couple of table spoons of vermicelli kheer, chopped fruits and jelly cubes. Pour some rose milk to cover the assembly. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and garnish with sliced nuts and mint leaves and serve immediately.

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No-churn Salted Caramel Ice Cream / Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

Making a very rich and delicious Salted Caramel Ice Cream without an ice cream maker and with only three ingredients. An extremely easy to make dessert if you have dulce de leche ready in your kitchen. You can either use store bought dulce de leche or can easily make at home. I have explained 3 different methods of boiling the can of condensed milk. You can follow the method you are most comfortable with :)  Do try it at home, I am sure you will love this!

No-churn Salted Caramel Ice Cream / Dulce de Leche Ice Cream
(Recipe from here)

Ingredients:

*Homemade or store-bought dulce de leche - 1 can or 1 1/3 cup

Flaky sea salt - 1/2 teaspoon (or 1/8 teaspoon table salt) 

Very cold heavy whipping cream - 2 cups

Method:

• Combine dulce de leche with salt in a large bowl and keep aside.
• Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat cream in a large bowl until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes.
• Stir about 1/3 of the whipped cream into dulce de leche until just combined.
• Gently fold remaining whipped cream into dulce de leche mixture, then pour into 9x5" loaf pan.
• Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, about 6 hours.

How to make Dulce the Leche at home.

• Traditional Method ~ Put the can of condensed milk, unopened, in a large pan, cover with water, bring to boiling point and boil for 3 hours, topping up with boiling water from a kettle as needed. Ensure that the can remains covered in water. Remove and leave to cool completely.
• Pressure cooker method without weight  ~ Fill a pressure cooker with water. Immerse the can into the pressure cooker and close the lid. Switch on the gas on high and wait for steam to come and reduce to medium flame and cook for 1 hour.
• Pressure cooker method with weight, easiest and less time consuming ~  Fill a pressure cooker with water. Immerse the can into the pressure cooker and close the lid. Switch on the gas on high. Wait for steam to come and then put on the weight. When you hear the first whistle, simmer the flame and let it cook for 30-45 minutes Switch off the gas and let it cool down to room temperature.

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Homemade Mango Ice Cream

It’s that season of the year when supermarket shelves are filled with different varieties of mangoes. I made this easy condensed milk mango ice cream that needs no cooking at all. Just whip up everything and freeze and you will have an amazing homemade mango ice cream. Even teenagers can make it at home! If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you need to whip the ice cream 2-3 times as it freezes to avoid crystallisation in the ice cream. You will get soft and smooth ice cream without an ice cream maker at home :) :) 

Homemade Mango Ice Cream with Condensed Milk

Ingredients:

Ripe Mango puree – 3 cups
Milk – 3 cups
Fresh Cream – 2 cups
Sweetened Condensed Milk – 1 tin
Sugar – ½ cup 

Lemon juice -1 tbsp

Method:

• Combine the condensed milk, milk, mango puree and lemon juice in a bowl.
• Whip the cream lightly with sugar and fold into the mixture.
• Pour into a freezing tray and freeze till half set. Remove and beat with a whisk or electric beater until smooth. Repeat the process two more times. Doing so will help keep the texture of the ice cream soft and creamy while it sets.
• Return to tray and freeze till well set and serve.

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