Something Interesting | Falooda, a “Historic” Drink
What is Falooda? It is a delicious drink that tells us a story of human travel, migration, and cultural fusion. While it may look different or even have a different name, the flavours will be familiar to those of us from several regions across the vast continent of Asia and some communities in South America and Africa reminding us of the cultural connections and similarities among us.
It is believed that the story of Falooda starts in ancient Shiraz, south of Iran or Persia. While there are now many versions of Faloodeh or Paloodeh in Iran; the original Faloodeh Shirazi is still a very much-loved Persian dessert made with frozen vermicelli noodles, rose and lime syrup and topped with pistachios and often served with a Persian saffron and pistachio ice cream (Bastani Sonnati).
The introduction of Persian culture to the north-western regions of the Indian subcontinent gave rise to the Indo-Persian culture in these regions from the 11th century with the cultural synthesis spreading widely from the 13th to the 16th century. The Indo-Persian Mughal Empire was established in the 16th century. At its peak in the 18th century, the empire stretched from the Indus River Basin in the west to parts of Afghanistan in the northwest and Kashmir in the north to Bangladesh in the east and the uplands of the Deccan Plateau in South India. Falooda is believed to have originated from the royal palaces of the Mughal Empire and a product of the cultural synthesis between Indian and Persian cultures.
The traditional falooda is made with rose syrup, vermicelli and sweet basil seeds mixed in milk and often served with ice cream. So, in essence falooda could be seen as Bastani Sonnati and Faloodeh in one dish, with the addition of milk. Sweet basil seeds that grow in India (as well as other South and South-East Asian countries and China) substituted pistachios that is native to Iran and Central Asia. Over time, regional adaptations in different parts of the Mughal Empire started to come about. Versions can be found in present day Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Interestingly but not surprisingly given that Afghanistan was once part of the Persian Empire; a version of falooda found in Afghanistan, is literally faloodeh topped with ice cream and pistachios.
Falooda (or faluda) is also a much beloved drink in the island nation of Sri Lanka where two versions can be found: the ‘Sri Lankan Faluda’ and the ‘Bombay Faluda’. The former is the closest to the original falooda from the Mughal days and was likely introduced to Sri Lanka by Parsi immigrants from India in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Bombay Faluda on the other hand contains an assortment of jellies and cashews; and is believed to have been introduced by the Gujarati community who settled permanently in Sri Lanka after the partition and independence of India in 1947.
With the expansion of the British Empire, falooda has spread across the globe and have been adapted over time to incorporate local ingredients and suit the local palate. In Myanmar (formerly Burma), you get phaluda that includes egg pudding, jelly and even sago along with the traditional components. It is Bombay Crush in South Africa, and alouda in Mauritius. You can even find falooda in Guyana, a former British colony on the northern coast of South America. Rather than a drink, the Guyanese falooda is a jelly-like version made with condensed milk. Falooda found its way to the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan through Myanmar where it is known as paoluda or palooda.
So, if you thought fusion cuisine is a new phenomenon, it is not. Even though the term ‘fusion cuisine’ was only added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2002, mixing of different cultural cuisines has been occurring for centuries. Cultural exchanges through time in the form of food, goods and knowledge have added and continue to add to the richness of cultures across the world whether we realise it or not.
Contributed by Dulani Abeysinghe, eCALD® Educator, Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
