Saffron and Milk Soft Fudge

For the chaina curds:
In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, set milk to boil on a medium low heat. Once milk starts to boil and you can see bubbles on the edge of milk surface, turn heat off. Add vinegar, 1 teaspoon at a time, and stir. You may end up using more or less than 2 teaspoons. I always start with 1 teaspoon and then keep adding more until the milk solids and whey separate completely. You will see chaina curds separating from a yellowish translucent liquid. Let it sit in the pan to cool. This will also help the curds to develop further.

After about 20 minutes, line a sieve with muslin cloth or several layers of cheese cloth. In a sink, drain the water/whey from the curds into the sieve. Run cold water over the curds and collect all the four corners of the cloth and twist. Squeeze out as much water as you can and then tie it on your faucet or keep in a place where it can continue draining for 15–20 minutes.

For the milk fudge:
In a blender, add chaina, condensed milk, green cardamom, saffron and milk. Blend until smooth.

Set a nonstick pan on medium low heat and transfer the mixture to the pan. Start cooking slowly, stirring continuously until it thickens. You will see that as the mixture thickens, it starts to come together, almost like a wet dough. This should not take more than 8–10 minutes.

Turn heat off and allow peda mixture to cool down a little bit so that it is easy to form into little discs with your hands. Grease hands with ghee. Take a small portion of the mixture, approximately 1 teaspoonful, roll into a small ball and flatten slightly to form into a disc. Press some chopped pistachios on top of each peda as a garnish.