Jun 10, 2014

Mango Falooda for a milestone of 5 Lakh+ hits!


Just after I had posted my Veggie Quesadilla I was checking some stats and realized, hey! we've crossed 5lakh+ views...and that is quite a feat. Considering how irregular my posts are here with past few months being crazy busy ;-P and plus I do hardly any social networking or engage with my readers other than the usual " {New Post} " updates on facebook. I occasionally add a pic or two to Instagram and Twitter and if I get time, try and pin my posts on my Pinterest boards...but I'm so lazy to do all this systematically and yet inspite of all this we've reached 5lakh page views....So big big thank you to you all!

I had made a superb mangolicious dessert for a casual dinner with my friends a weekend ago and thought it was perfect to share here with my joy of reaching a lovely milestone on the blog. 

I planned to make Chicken Biriyani with mixed veg Raita and papad for dinner. For appetizers we grilled some awesome tandoori chicken (marinated by my friend) and paneer-veggie tandoori kebabs (made by me). I can never let a dinner pass without dessert so I decided to make Mango Falooda that was flavored with cardamom and had some vibrant layers to it...

It had been a long time since I ate or made falooda and I just wanted to have something cool and refreshing and this was the perfect dessert. Trust me when I say it was enjoyed by all, b'coz from the kids to all the calorie conscious adults (my friends :-P ) ate up their whole glass full ;-)

(Pls pardon my out-of-focus pics, all my concentration was on how soon could I lick that glass clean ;-) )





A Falooda is a layered sweet drink or beverage. It uses ingredients like vermicelli, sago, jelly, basil seeds (sabja), fruits, nuts etc  that are layered together and finally served with chilled and flavored milk or icecream. I've seen it usually served with both a spoon and a straw where you eat the various layers with a spoon and drink up the sweet milk or melted icecream with the straw :-) I just love this almost 'trifle like' dessert and to give it a twist I made a smooth custard instead of flavored milk to blend with the layers.

Here are the simple set of ingredients that make up this pretty dessert. I layered each of these ingredients and then finally poured the mango custard on top with a scoop of vanilla icecream. It was the perfect combination of flavors.



I did not have nor could I find Basil (sabja) seeds at the store so I used Chia seeds instead. I'm not sure exactly how basil seeds would have tasted but chia seeds work just well and besides I've read of so many health benefits of chia seeds. I just added a tablespoon of the seeds and added enough water to immerse them. They bloomed beautifully and becomes almost jelly like and I must say was quite flavorless ;-)



You can make jelly from mango pulp as well for an all-mango dessert but i wanted some pop-of color and decided to use a strawberry instant jello mix. It worked well and the extra jelly we just ate it up later on.



I made two more glasses of Mango Falooda after dinner and refrigerated it for the next day (this was just for Manish & me :-P ) Oh! by the way, I ate up half that glass in between taking pics, the icecream had melted, the layers blended with each other and it was icy cold and totally yumm...I couldn't resist! :-P 





Mango Falooda
(makes 6-8 servings)

You'll Need
Strawberry Jelly (cut in cubes) - as needed
Fresh Mango (cut into cubes) - 1 Mango
Mango pulp - ½ cup
Chia seeds (soaked and bloomed in water) - 1 Tblsp
For vermicelli payasam/kheer
Falooda Sev or Roasted Vermicelli - 50 gms
Milk - 2 cups
Sugar - 3-4 tblsp (as preferred)
Cardamom powder - ½ tsp
For mango custard
Milk - 2 cups
Mango pulp - 1/2 cup
Custard powder - 1 tblsp
Sugar - 3-4 tblsp (as preferred)
Cardamom powder - ½ tsp
Vanilla Icecream - one scoop each


Directions
1. Soak the Chia seeds in water enough to immerse it and as it thickens slightly add more water to loosen it. Refrigerate until needed.
2. If making instant Strawberry jelly, follow the instructions from the pack and refrigerate to set for few hours. (I reduced the water by ½ cup to get a thicker jelly)
3. Make Falooda Sev/Vermicelli payasam
Heat a pan and add falooda sev/roasted vermicelli with 2 cups milk. When it starts to boil, add the cardamom powder and sugar and stir and continue to cook until the sev is soft and the payasam/kheer becomes thick. Add more sugar as desired. Refrigerate until chilled.
4. Make Mango Custard
Mix the custard powder with some milk without any lumps and keep aside. Start to boil 2 cups milk in a pan. When milk starts bubbling add the custard powder and sugar and mix well making sure no lumps form. Stir until it slightly thickens, turn off flame, add powdered cardamom powder. Once the custard cools, add the mango pulp and mix well. Refrigerate until needed.
Make sure the custard is of pourable consistency and not thick like pudding. Add more sugar as desired.

Assemble
In a tall glass add 1 tsp each of vermicelli payasam, strawberry jelly, chia seeds and mango cubes. Add enough mango pulp to cover the fruit and then add a teaspoon of crushed almonds and  pour enough Mango custard to fill. Top with a scoop of vanilla icecream and serve immediately!

Notes:
1. I used canned mango pulp, you can make it fresh mangoes as well.
2. I flavored the vermicelli payasam and mango custard with cardamom, you can skip it if you do not like the flavor, though I don't see any reason why you won't :-)


I tried a gif image just for fun to see the glass getting layered...next time i should remember to keep my camera still to get a better effect. What do you think? :-)



Do try it out, you'll love it. My calorie conscious friends will agree too :-P hehe...

-Manju

11 comments:

  1. congrats dear... that's a great achievement!!! the falooda looks so yum... love the way u have done the last image... :)

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  2. looks a perfect dessert,yumm to dig in..Congrats on your milestone,wish you many more happy moments,Manju :)

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  3. Yummy and delicious falooda..congrats on your milestone,wishing more....

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  4. Congrats.. It looks mouth watering

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  5. Congrats Manju... Wishing MED to cross lot more hits in lakhs :)
    Falooda looks absolutely delicious and very tempting pics !!

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  6. congrats on that milestone ....Falooda looks so delicious...drooling here

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  7. Congrats Manju and many more to come :-) I love you idea on the last pic and falooda looks delicious and getting me drool. YUM

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  8. congratulations , hitting 5 lakhs s really a great achievement dear :D. so happy n proud of u... (btw Its really mouth watering :) )

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  9. Wow yummy dear , bookmarked . sure will try n let u know...

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  10. So happy to see chia seeds in this treat... I must give it a try. :)

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  11. Hello Manju. The mango falooda looks so inviting. And congratulations for crossing the 5 lac mark.
    I love the pictures on your blog. Could you tell me which lens do you use for photographing your creations?

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