Name: Peshawari falooda (Pistachio ice-cream float)
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: Pakistani
Ingredients: 100 g/3½ oz/½ cup caster (superfine) sugar; 1 tbsp crushed pistachios; 4 tsp soaked and drained basil seeds; 1 teaspoon gum mastic crystals, crushed with 1 teaspoon caster (superfine) sugar (optional); 2–3 drops pistachio essence (optional); 2 litres/3½ pints/8 cups milk; 3 tsp kewra (screwpine water) or rose water; 3–5 drops natural green food colour; 500 ml/17 fl oz/2 cups double (heavy) cream; 1 heaped tsp ground cardamom; ½ packet falooda china glass noodles; 2 tbsp rooh afza rose syrup; 200 ml/7 fl oz/scant 1 cup evaporated milk; 1 tbsp dried edible rose petals (optional); 50 g/1¾ oz/⅓ cup chopped pistachios; mint leaves, to decorate; 12 tbsp condensed milk

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
55 min

Appears in

Summers Under the Tamarind Tree

By Sumayya Usmani

Published 2016

About

Late-evening cravings for ice cream would lead to my father taking us out for falooda – an ice cream float decorated with a pink rose syrup called rooh afza, as well as puffy basil seeds and china grass noodles. Peshawari ice cream is famous all over the country: it’s made from rich buffalo cream, and pistachio is my all-time favourite. The combination of rose, milk and pistachio pretty much sums up the flavour of all things sweet in Pakistan.