Cardamom Milk Pudding

This is the yummiest and easiest of all pudding recipes. It can be made very easily with the least of ingredients. I made it on an impulse for my baby when he refused to drink his usual cup of milk in the morning. Pudding in any flavour is always a big welcome for him and I've decided that I'll  make this particular pudding as often as I could.

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon green or white cardamom pods, slightly crushed
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
A pinch of Salt and a few drops of Vanilla.

Preparation

Bring milk, cardamom pods, and a pinch of salt just to a boil in a heavy saucepan, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes.
Whisk sugar and corn starch in hot milk mixture. Add Vanilla essence. Return to saucepan and simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Chill pudding, its surface covered with wax paper, until very cold, at least 2 hours.

Milk Peda

Everyone with a sweet tooth clearly relishes this sweet delicacy. This one is easy to make and it just melts in our mouth. I can never think of an instance where ive seen this one for sale in the bakery and I didnt end up purchasing it. So you can guess this was, is and always will be my favourite sweet dish.

Ingredients

Condensed Milk - 1/2 tin (200 gms)
Milk powder - 1 cup
Melted Ghee - 2 tsp + to grease
Saffron - 4 strands cut into small pieces
Pistachios - 8 chopped finely

Method:
Soak saffron in warm milk and set aside.Chop the pistachios finely, keep aside.In a non stick pan add condensed milk,milk powder and saffron milk.Whisk it well so that there are no lumps, this should be done even before switching on the flame.
How to make doodh peda - Step1
Not switch on the flame and keep cooking. I used my whisk for a while to avoid lumps.Keep cooking until it starts to leave the sides of the pan.Once it starts leaving the sides of the pan, add ghee and give a quick mix.
Keep cooking until you see a thick mass slightly sticky, try to take a small portion roll it and check, you should be able to form a ball.This is the correct stage.Switch off and let it cool down for 10mins.When it is still warm, pinch  small lemon sized portion and make a ball, slightly flatten it.
Make a small dent in the center, add chopped pistachios and arrange in a clean plate.Repeat the same until the entire mixture finishes.Leave it to set atleast for an hour.You can even refrigerate it for a while.It will look moist for a while then will become dry after an hour or so.