I loved going to London’s south-Asian centres like Wembleyas a kid. Not for the endless sari shopping, but because it involved snacks I wouldn’t often get at home: crispy potato bhajia, samosas, chaat, mogo, dokhla and falooda – a rose-flavoured dessert drink. It’s rare to get a really good falooda because it’s such a fine balance of rose syrup, generous quantities of basil seeds – which bloom into a frogspawn consistency when soaked – vermicelli noodles and vanilla ice-cream. In short, a thing of magic.
