Suji ka Halwa

Method

1. Put 180 ml of water and 45 g of sugar in a small saucepan with a pinch of saffron threads. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then turn the heat to its lowest setting and keep the syrup hot and covered — it must go into the semolina boiling hot or the halwa will turn lumpy.
2. Melt 1 tbsp of ghee in a small kadhai or heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Add 8 g of halved cashews and fry for about 45 seconds until pale gold, then add 8 g of raisins and fry a further 15-20 seconds until they puff. Scoop both out with a slotted spoon onto a plate, leaving all the ghee in the pan.
3. Tip 60 g of fine semolina into the hot ghee and lower the heat to low-medium. Roast, stirring almost constantly with a flat wooden spatula and scraping the base, for 9-10 minutes. The grains should loosen from a paste into a sandy, free-flowing mass, turn the colour of pale honey and smell strongly nutty. Do not let it brown unevenly — pull the pan off the heat for a moment if it is catching.