Falooda

The seeds of sweet basil, known as sabja, are soaked until they swell and give falooda its texture. The rest, as it is made in Cape Town, is a sweet milkshake of milk, vanilla ice cream, rose syrup and rose water, which turns it pale pink. Some cooks add cubes of jelly, and it is often finished with chopped pistachios or dried rosebuds.

In South Asia, where the drink has its roots, falooda is a cold dessert made with vermicelli, and some writers link it further back to the Persian faloodeh. Cape recipes, unlike many Indian versions, often leave out the vermicelli.

Writing for TASTE, Zorah Booley-Samaai has described making falooda for her family on Eid morning, before the day's visits to relatives. Her recipe insists that the basil seeds are what turn it from a milkshake into falooda.