This Homemade Falooda is a childhood favorite of mine! A uniquely delicious drink and very popular in South Asia, it’s a rose and vanilla flavored milkshake, that you will love too! 🙂
Authentic homemade falooda recipe, made from scratch with a homemade falooda syrup!
Updated: August 2019
Why you should make this falooda recipe (faluda recipe)
- It’s made from scratch. This homemade falooda syrup recipe is easy, and you know exactly what goes into it, unlike store-bought syrups.
- The flavor is TRULY authentic! Thanks to a simple, secret ingredient, the flavor of this falooda is 100% authentic.
- It’s an addictively delicious milkshake flavor that is also quite unique and exotic (especially if you’re not from the south Asian region where this drink is popular).
- Both kids and adults will love this milkshake!
What is falooda (faluda)?
Falooda is a very popular drink in South Asia. It originated in India, but it’s just as popular in Sri Lanka too. As kids, we used to frequent places called “Bombay Sweet shops” in Sri Lanka, that served traditional sweets from India. Visiting these stores were considered a treat, because you can actually SMELL the sugar and floral scents before you even entered the store. Apparently parents don’t like loading up their kids with sugar… who knew? Falooda was my go-to drink, and Laddu was my go-to dessert!
It’s a beautiful pink milkshake, that is not only unique in flavor, but has all these add-ins that give a chewy textural contrast to the creamy milkshake.
For an alcoholic version of this drink, check out my Vanilla Rose and White Chocolate Cocktail! All the flavors of authentic falooda, but with alcohol!
Why make this recipe from scratch?
It wasn’t by choice that I started making falooda from scratch. Since I moved away from Sri Lanka, it was hard to find authentic falooda syrup in stores. For years, I waited until I could buy the syrup from the local Sri Lankan store, but they didn’t always have it. The Sri Lankan falooda syrup was marketed as MD Artificial Sherbet Syrup.
And when I moved away from the city, it was even harder to find any Sri Lankan store, let alone the falooda syrup. I tried for many years to make this drink at home, trying all brands of rose water, rose extract, and sharbat syrup to recreate my childhood favorite at home. It was similar, but not the same.

Making this homemade falooda recipe from scratch,
- is great for anyone like me, that’s living overseas and has no access to this drink, or the syrup to make it with.
- for anyone who wants to know precisely what goes into their milkshake, because the store-bought syrup typically has a lot of preservatives and chemicals.
- for anyone who has never had falooda before, but wants to try a uniquely delicious milkshake!
Most falooda recipes online show you how to make the drink with falooda syrup OR with sharbat syrup. Falooda made with sharbat syrup misses a core part of the flavor of the authentic milkshake, and simply tastes like rose water +milk. Plus, store-bought falooda syrup has ingredients that have no business being in a kid’s drink.
So today, I’m going to show you how to make classic homemade falooda FROM SCRATCH, starting with the falooda syrup.
So what is the secret ingredient?
It is by happy coincidence that I was able to recreate this authentic flavor! I finally figured out the secret ingredient after years of trying different recipes. It was vanilla! Just good ol’ plain vanilla extract!
This Raspberry, Pistachio and Rose Swiss Meringue Buttercream was responsible for this serendipitous discovery. I remember asking Mr K to taste-test the frosting, which he did, and then stopped, reached out for a little more, tasted it again and then looked at me and said “this tastes just like falooda!” I told him it was rose water, not falooda syrup, but then when I tasted it, it hit me too! There was something that I added to my frosting (which I made using rose water) that made it taste like the falooda from our childhood.
After narrowing down the ingredients in the buttercream, I realized that it was vanilla! The SECRET (and for years, illusive) ingredient was the extract that I use religiously, in a lot of my baking, and had never thought was a core part of the falooda flavor!
If you use sharbat syrup to make your usual falooda drink, then I implore you, add a touch of vanilla and marvel at how much it transforms your drink!
Other additions to your homemade falooda
Since this is a milkshake, there are some ingredients that you can’t do without. But there are also several optional add-ins too.
Essential ingredients for homemade falooda
- Milk (non-dairy milk is fine too)
- Vanilla ice cream (non-dairy ice cream works too)
- Falooda syrup
Optional add-ins
- Tukmaria seeds, soaked
- Roasted vermicelli, cooked
- Red strawberry jello (or strawberry jelly for my non-american readers)
- Green or yellow jello
- Pistachio
Tukmaria seeds
This is my favorite add-in for this homemade falooda (homemade faluda). Tukmaria seeds are also known as basil seeds, sabja seeds or kasa-kasaa, and they are similar to chia seeds. Much like chia seeds, these seeds develop a gelatinous coating when soaked in water, but it’s a much thicker coat than chia. If you can’t find this ingredient, you can add soaked chia seeds instead too, or leave it out altogether.
Jello
Some falooda recipes call for multi-colored jello to be added to the drink, but I stick with one to make life easier. So strawberry jello is my choice for this falooda recipe. I make it with only HALF the amount of water, and then let it set and cut into cubes. The result is really fruity, and slightly tangy pieces of jello that get sucked up the straw along with the sweet milkshake when you drink it! I love the contrast it adds in terms of flavor and texture.
Roasted vermicelli
I wasn’t fond of this as a kid, but love it now. It’s not the regular white vermicelli you can buy from the store. These are very thin noodles that have been roasted, and are yellow in color. They can be found in Indian stores.
Pistachio
I don’t really add nuts to this drink, but that’s just me. Since falooda is sometimes served like an ice cream sundae and milkshake, some like to top it with pistachios. But that’s optional.
How to assemble the ingredients for the most authentic falooda drink
Honestly, there’s no wrong way to enjoy this milkshake. But as a kid, seeing an ombre colored falooda always excited me! A deep pink at the bottom, transitioning to white at the top, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and the basil seeds floating on top. It was yummy and pretty!
But here are two ways to layer the ingredients to get two different looks for this dessert drink.
First method (ombre look)
Add the jello first, followed by vermicelli, and basil seeds.
Next add milk, and then pour in the rose syrup. The rose syrup should sink to the bottom, creating a pink ombre look. Finally, top it with ice cream, and a little extra jello. Serve with a spoon and a straw. Remember to stir the milkshake before drinking.
Second method (for streaks + ombre look)
Add the jello first, followed by vermicelli and basil seeds.
Follow with milk, and then add the ice cream.
Finally, pour in the falooda syrup. The syrup will spread in the milk because of the ice cream, creating red/pink streaks with an ombre look! Serve with a spoon and a straw. Remember to stir the milkshake before drinking.
The way you assemble it is ONLY important if you want the drink to look great when serving. You can just as easily mix the milk + syrup + ice cream together to make the milkshake base, and then add the toppings afterwards too.
Making falooda for a crowd
If you’re making this homemade falooda from scratch for a crowd, and don’t have time to pour each drink, then the mix and serve method will be the best way to serve it.
Mix the falooda + milk together to create falooda milk. Let this chill in the fridge until needed.
Then just pour this into glasses, with a scoop of ice cream and serve. The other add-ins are optional, so only add what you want.
What if I don’t want to use food coloring?
No problem! You have three options.
- Don’t add any coloring.
- Make the syrup with some saffron strands, which will make the syrup yellow in color. Still just as beautiful, and the saffron adds another lovely layer of flavor.
- Add a few pieces of raw beetroot when making the syrup to get the deep pink color. The pink shade will be different, and it will have an earthier taste, but it’s natural coloring.
Why you should try falooda today!
It’s a regional, uniquely flavored milkshake that’s hard not to love! 🙂 The kind that you’ve never had before, unless you lived in or visited South Asia, or your family is from there. It’s creamy and sweet like a milkshake, with a beautiful, floral fragrance and flavor, and also has tangy jello, and chewy vermicelli and basil seeds that have contrasting textures. It’s an indulgent dessert drink, and perfectly refreshing for summer too!
You can also customize this drink to your taste. Make it less or more sweet. Add more jello or none at all. Add more ice cream? Yes please! Plus who can resist an indulgent treat that looks so pretty too?
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Sri Lankan Falooda Syrup & Drink (Rose and Vanilla Milkshake)
Ingredients:
Sri Lankan Faluda
- ½ cup Homemade Falooda Syrup (or store-bought falooda syrup) add more or less (to taste)
- 1 ½ cup cold milk (up to 1 cup)
- 2 tsp tukmaria seeds also called basil seeds/sabja seeds/kasa-kasaa
- ½ cup water to soak the seeds
- Strawberry jello jello cut into 1 cm cubes (about 1/4 cup)
- ¼ cup cooked, roasted vermicelli soaking in cold water
- ½ cup vanilla ice cream 1 scoop (or more), for each drink
Falooda Syrup
- 2 cups white sugar 400 g
- ¼ cup corn syrup glucose syrup
- 1 ¾ cups rose water not rose water extract
- tiny pinch of salt
- 2 tsp Madagascar bourbon vanilla or a good quality vanilla extract
- Pink coloring avoid bright pink or neon pink
Shortcut for Falooda Syrup
- About 2 cups of bottled rose syrup
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
Strawberry Jello for Falooda
- 1 pkt strawberry jello 3 oz / 85 g size
- 1 cup hot water i.e. half the amount of water stated in the packet
Instructions:
Falooda Drink (for two people)
- Soak the tukmaria seeds in about 1/2 cup of water for about 10 minutes, until they form a "gel coating". Set aside.
- Chop the cooked vermicelli into smaller pieces and set aside, covered (to prevent the noodles from drying out).
- Unmold the jello and cut into small cubes. Keep in the fridge until needed.
- Take two glasses, and add some strawberry jello to the bottom. Follow that with about 1 tbsp chopped, cooked vermicelli. Next, add the soaked tukmaria (basil) seeds.
- Pour about 3/4 cup of chilled milk (more if you like the drink to be less sweet).
- Pour in the 1/4 cup of the falooda syrup (this should create a pink ombre look).
- Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream (about ¼ cup) and a little extra jello on top.
- Serve with a spoon and a straw.
Falooda syrup
- Place the sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1 ½ cups of rose water in a saucepan. Stir to combine and allow the sugar to dissolve over medium high heat. When the sugar has dissolved, let the syrup come to a simmer, and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the vanilla and the remaining ¼ cup of rose water.
- Add pink coloring to get a deep pink color. Allow the syrup to cool down completely before using.
Shortcut Falooda syrup
- For the shortcut version - just add the vanilla extract to the rose syrup and shake well to combine.
Strawberry Jello
- Empty the contents of the packet into a heat-proof bowl. Dissolve the contents in 1 cup of water (half the amount that is required to make jello as instructed in the packet).
- Pour the jello mix into a dish, and let it cool down to room temperature. Then chill in the fridge overnight to set.
Tips & Tricks
Nutrition Information:
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Rachy says
I haven’t made this yet but stopped by to say from Australia that this looks exactly like how I remember it when I visited as a two year old for the first time, 44 years ago.
There are only three memories I have as a two year old: running up and down the Qantas plane out of boredom until the plane finally reached Sri Lanka, (sorry to whoever was on that plane that day from Brisbane) running up and down the middle of a dirt road in some village of my father’s in my Hello Kitty t shirt with a glass bottle of Coke shouting ‘pooke nool!’ as the random locals standing roadside had just taught me, and sitting in a kade with my dad guzzling one of these falooda exactly as you have displayed it here.
I can instantly taste it in my brain right now despite having never had it since.
The power of memories!
Thank you for this recipe I look forward to trying it.
Arshdeep kaur says
Hi
The falooda syrup can be kept for how many days
Dini says
Hi Arshdeep,
It can be kept up to 7-10 days in the fridge. Maybe a little longer.
Tina says
Hello, can you tell me how to cook/roast the vermicelli. I have some, but don’t know how to cook it to make the falooda. I’ve got everything else ready to complete the recipe. Thx.
Dini says
Hi Tina
Usually the package has directions on how to cook the vermicelli. I just follow that, OR you can do the following; bring some water to a boil, and add the roasted vermicelli to the boiling water. Let it cook just until done and drain. Once drained, keep the cooked vermicelli in a little cold water to prevent them from sticking to each other.
I hope that helps!
Niro K says
HI Dini, your discovery of the secret ingredient in SL Faluda is facinating. When I read your article I realized that you have a great passion and taste for food. We live in LA and just came home after enjoying a SL Faluda served at a SL fair near LA. Unfortunately they ran out of it and 5 of us had to share the two last drinks they made (same picture as you posted). On the way home we discussed why SL Faluda is different from Indian. Immediately when we got home I searched and found your article. Thank you so much for sharing this.
mira says
Love rose water! That drink looks perfect! Pinned!
Tharushi says
Hi Dini,
The faluda was Fab!! reminds my uni days in Colombo with my friends. It tasted the same to SL faluda with loads of ice cream on top. I felt the vanilla ice cream too enhanced the flavour(your secret ingredient) and the sweetness of faluda- was just perfect to my palate. I miss the sunny, warm days to enjoy the faluda.
Holiday at home – heater on- Faluda- not a bad combo.
Load of Love,
Tharushi
Winnie says
Rose syrup and rose water are popular here, so you definitely have my attention 🙂 I loooooooooove what I see, and I’m so curious to drink this
Super creative!!
Dini says
Thank you so much Winnie! If you love Rose water, then this drink will be perfect!! It tastes absolutely delicious! I hope you do get a chance to try it out 🙂
Oana @AdoreFoods says
When I read rose water, you had all my attention 🙂 OMG, this treat looks amazing! I cannot wait to try it
Dini says
Thank you Oana! I cannot tell you how happy and excited I get when I get someone to have faluda for the first time! hahaha!! 😀
Lorelai @ Life With Lorelai says
YUM’d! This looks delicious. Please come share your blog posts over at the Home Matters Linky Party! We’d love to have you for a visit. The Door is OPEN. http://lifewithlorelai.com/2015/05/28/home-matters-linky-party-39/ 🙂
~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
skd says
Are they chia seeds by chance? I need to try this super refreshing yummy drink this summer
Dini says
I really hope you do! 🙂 Tukmaria seeds are different than chia seeds… they are “cousins” 🙂 Tukmaria (Basil) seeds swell up considerably more than chia seeds! I love tukmaria because of the thicker gel coating, but it possibly could be interchangeable 🙂
Justine says
Whoa!! This sounds amazing! I’m so happy that you were finally able to recreate the flavor you’d been looking for for so long and it has paid off! I’ve never heard of this drink before, but would love to give it a try.
Indu says
I love falooda! And really enjoyed reading this post and how you went about finally making it like the original version. I add rose extract instead of rose water. Rose extract and a little bit of rose syrup gets me the perfect flavor I want for my falooda. But I can see why you were disappointed when you just used rose syrup – that’s because rose syrup has too much sugar and less of the rose flavor/essence. Great job! 🙂
Dini says
Thank you Indu! 🙂 I added extra Rose water to the rose syrup to get that extra flavour, PLUS added the vanilla which is what makes Sri Lankan Faluda syrup different from Rose syrup! Rose syrup alone doesn’t have that vanilla that I wanted for my version of faluda I grew up with 🙂 I was definitely excited to make that discovery!
Sridevi Ravi says
I like your persistence in finding out the right ingredients to make this drink. I love falooda and all the textures of this sweet drink. I am tempted to make it after looking at your amazing pictures!
cynthia says
This drink looks absolutely gorgeous Dini! I’ve never heard of this before but it’s colours entice me to try it out ! Happy FF and thanks for sharing <3
Jhuls | The Not So Creative Cook says
You got me at Faluda – this looks so pretty and really sounds refreshing, appetizing and delish, Dini. Another good job done by you. Not only you made your parents jealous, but also your blogging buddies. 😐 It’s really nice if you could send us a glass right away. 🙂 Happy FF! xx
Julie is HostessAtHeart says
Dini this drink is just beautiful! I am very happy that you were able to replicate a childhood favorite! They bring back such wonderful memories.
Kaila (GF Life 24/7) says
I’m so glad you found the missing ingredients! Dishes from our childhood are amazing because they also bring back so many memories. And, this one looks beautiful as well. Thank you so much for sharing! Happy FF, and have a wonderful weekend! 😀
Dini says
Thank you so much Kaila! 🙂 I hope you had a lovely weekend too… I was away and only got back yesterday! Can’t WAIT to see everything on FF! 🙂
Judi Graber says
What a pretty drink – at first I thought you used chia seeds which are so similar to tukmaria seeds. Love the way they swell up with so many good nutrients! Feels good to find that special ingredient after so much work. Happy Fiesta Friday #69 🙂
zita subasinghe says
What a journey! What a result! I can see you don’t easily give up. The description and photos take me right back to my childhood, and that’s a pretty long time ago!
I shall surprise my Sri Lankan friends next time with a real life, authentic Faluda!
Thanks Dini!
Your blog is lively and interesting and fun to read.
From Zita
Dini says
Thank you so much Zita! 🙂 I already can’t wait to make it again!
And thank you so much for the lovely comment too! It makes me happy to know that you like my blog and keep coming back! 😀
Loretta says
My gosh Dini…..flood a, my absolute favorite. You were quite persistent weren’t you to find what was missing.What is the difference between rose syrup and rose water? Ihave the latter in my refrigerator waiting to be used, bit it is colorless. Yourfalooda makes me want to reach out and grab..Well done!!
Dini says
Thank you Loretta! 🙂 It just kept nagging in my head until we discovered what it was!
Rose water is just the essence of rose in water… it’s intensely fragrant, and floral but it’s not sweet at all, and clear in colour. You can make rose syrup by adding sugar (as in the recipe)
Rose syrup is the basically Rose water and sugar mixed together to a syrup. So it is sweeter and a little more syruppy in consistency. This is usually pink in colour and is the base for regular Faluda/falooda. The syrup in SL tastes slightly different from the regular Rose syrup and that was what I was looking for 🙂
mila furman says
Dini how lovely!!! #I love how you and I are perfectionists with our recipes… Searching and searching until we find juuuuust the right one…and then you get the happiest feeling right!!! Anyhow…this is fantastic! I love rose water…when you understand how to use it, it just gives food the subtlest flavor doesnt it?
CakeSpy says
I loved discovering a regional specialty, and I love the journey to this recipe. Thank you for an amazing post!
Dini says
Thank you so much! 😀 It was a pretty long story… yikes! Somethings are a little harder to let go… 🙂
Michelle @ Giraffes Can Bake says
Does anything beat finding that secret ingredient that just perfects what you’ve been trying to do? It always turns out to be something so simple too haha! This looks awesome, I’m gonna have to have a look for that rose syrup in my Asian supermarket that I love so much. I’m very drawn to the colour of this too haha!
Also, for some reason I didn’t get the email notification for this recipe 🙁 Glad I saw it on facebook!
Dini says
It is the best feeling! 😀
If you can find Rose syrup it makes it easier (just add a little vanilla), but if you can find Rose water, you can make the syrup following the recipe! 🙂 I’m not a pink girl usually, but I still LOVE it in this!
I had problems sending out my email update today! 🙁 So fingers crossed it will go out tomorrow without a problem! 😉
Stephanie says
Dahh! You’re recipes are always so creative and I always know without fail, that I can always come here and have a new pretty picture to gawk at! I love LOVE LOVE this pretty drink, yum!!!
Dini says
Thank you so much Stephanie :D! That made me really happy!
You absolutely HAVE to try this drink! It’s the pink that got me the first time I tried this 😉
Sandhya says
Dini, Falooda is a favorite of mine too ! Fabulous pictures!
Dini says
Thank you so much Sandhya! It definitely was part of my childhood memories! 🙂