Add the milk, cardamom, salt and sugar to a wide, heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat and give it a stir. Roughly grind the saffron in a small mortar and add a little warm water or the milk to bloom. Add to the milk mixture.
3 ⅓ cups whole milk, ¼ cup heavy cream, 4-5 cardamom pods, pinch of saffron, ¼ cup white granulated sugar, pinch of salt
Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium and cook for 20-30 minutes while occasionally stirring to prevent the bottom from scorching. Make sure to scrape the sides of the pan and mix it in.
Once the milk mixture has reduced by about 20%, start making the dough balls.
Combine all the dry ingredients and then add in a whisked egg and the oil. Quickly mix into a rough dough with a spoon or fork and then knead into a smooth dough with your hands. You'll need to work quickly so the dough doesn’t dry out. Oil your hands before kneading so it doesn’t stick as much.
1 cup whole milk powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon oil or ghee, 1 large egg
Make about 16 balls, around 10 grams each. Work quickly to roll into smooth balls as you go, so the dough doesn't dry out. I like to press them down slightly to get a disc shape. Oil your hands again if needed.
Make sure the milk is at a gentle simmer, on low heat. You should barely be able to see the bubbles.
Immediately drop the all the balls into the gently simmering milk in one go, making sure it's not any hotter than that. Without touching them, cover the pot and let them cook for about 5 minutes.
Once they're puffed up and floating, gently flip them over. Cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat, garnish with some chopped pistachios and let cool.
Transfer to serving dish and garnish with chopped pistachios/slivered almonds/rose petals. Chill in the fridge overnight or at least 2 hours improve the flavour drastically!
Pistachio - for garnish, Dried rose petals - for garnish
