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1
Place the cold ghee and the grated carrot together in a wide, heavy pan and set over medium heat — starting with cold ghee rather than hot lets the carrot release its own moisture gradually, so the strands soften all the way through before the ghee has a chance to fry them hard on the outside. Stir constantly as the pan warms. Continue until the carrot has fully softened, turned a deeper garnet, and the pan is fragrant with cooked ghee; there should be no pooling liquid and the carrot strands should glisten individually rather than clump, and the raw carrot smell will have given way to a warm, nutty, almost caramelised fragrance.
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2
Pour in the full-fat milk in a steady stream, still over medium heat, so the hot carrot mass is never shocked into seizing or scorching at the point of contact. Stir at regular intervals and do not cover the pan, as a lid traps steam and prevents the concentration you need. This is where the dish lives or dies: maintain the heat steadily — high heat scorches the carrot sugars, low heat steams without reducing — and cook until every drop of milk has been absorbed and the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan cleanly; draw a spoon through the centre and the trail must hold with no liquid seeping back.
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3
Add the crumbled khoya and fold it through evenly, breaking up any lumps as you go so it melts into the carrot mass without leaving dense pockets of unmelted fat. Continue on medium heat, stirring, until the mixture tightens again, then add the sugar and stir to dissolve completely — the sugar will momentarily loosen the halwa, so keep cooking until it firms once more and pulls from the pan. Add the ground cardamom and the saffron steeped in warm milk, fold through, and you will see the colour deepen to a rich garnet and smell the cardamom rise clearly above everything else.
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4
Remove from heat and spoon into small cups or a shallow dish while still warm. Scatter almond and pistachio slivers over the surface. Serve at once: the halwa should be hot, dense, and fragrant, with carrot strands still holding a faint fibrous resistance to the spoon.