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1
Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a full boil, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and keep the syrup hot, so that when it meets the toasted semolina it is absorbed evenly rather than seizing the grains into clumps.
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2
Melt the ghee in a wide, heavy pan over medium heat, add the semolina, and stir without interruption for 8–12 minutes. This is where the dish lives or dies: the semolina must fry freely in the abundant ghee — not dry-toast — until every grain turns golden-amber and the smell shifts unmistakably from raw starch to a nutty, popcorn-like character, because pale, flat-smelling semolina at this stage will produce a raw, flavourless halwa that no subsequent step can correct.
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3
Add the ground cardamom to the toasted semolina and stir briefly so the warmth of the pan opens the spice and carries its fragrance into the ghee before the syrup dilutes it. Stand back, then pour the hot syrup over the semolina in a steady stream — the liquid strikes the hot ghee and sputters violently — and stir continuously so the grains absorb the liquid uniformly rather than setting in uneven lumps.
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4
Continue stirring over medium heat until all the syrup is absorbed and the halwa begins to pull away cleanly from the sides and base of the pan, which tells you the grains have swelled fully and the mixture has bound into a cohesive mass. A wet puddle remaining in the pan indicates insufficient cooking; the preparation is done when it is cohesive, slightly sticky, and slightly grainy.
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5
Dissolve the saffron in the warm milk before adding it so the colour and fragrance steep out of the threads and spread evenly through the halwa rather than leaving golden streaks. Fold through gently — the preparation should be glossy, yielding, and evenly coloured. Serve immediately.