An outlet that’s set to redefine traditional faloodas

Senthil Kumar Ekambaram’s tryst with food began when he completed hotel management. After serving as a chef in both the hotel and retail sectors for more than a decade, he launched two of his own ventures before Firangi Falooda (Anna Nagar) that was inaugurated a month ago. “During a brainstorming session, I realised that while there are many options for one to eat pizza, burger or fried chicken in Chennai, there isn’t anything much for falooda. It was my dream to start a juice bar or coffee shop, but since they’re not practical at the moment, I settled on this,” begins the youngster.

Since falooda is a versatile product that can be consumed by any segment of people, he decided to bank on it. “We have 15-odd flavours, which we will expand to 30-40 by summer. Every region in India has a different version and we have tried to incorporate as many as possible of those tastes in our menu,” he says.

The popular ones are Kulfi, Royal and some international flavours too. He explains, “Falooda is accumulation of ingredients such as vermicelli, sabja seeds and crunchy nuts. We don’t want to make it monotonous because of which we like experimenting with textures and ingredients. In fact, that’s why we named our outlet Firangi Falooda — because we’ve introduced some fusion flavours as well.”

For instance, one drink is based on the famous pastry tres leches, while some others are served in glass bottles that’s a very ‘firangi’ way of serving a milkshake, according to Senthil. He shares, “Most of the variants have received a positive response from the customers but some aren’t appreciated as much. In the tres leches falooda, people ask us why there’s no sponge cake. When we explain to them that our version is made only with milk, milkmaid and heavy cream, they understand and are willing to order it the next time.”

As for the produce, most of it is sourced from multiple vendors. “We get the kulfi from Mumbai, milk from Amul, have tied up with Chennai Koyambedu Fruits Traders Association for fruits and purchase the nuts locally,” he concludes.