Bring the milk to the boil in a heavy pot. As soon as the milk begins to rise, turn the head down, adjusting it to allow the milk to simmer vigorously without boiling over.

Add the cardamom pods. The milk has to reduce to about a third
of its original amount, to about 750ml. Stir frequently as this happens. Whenever a film forms on top of the milk, just stir it in.

When the milk has reduced, remove the cardamom pods and discard.

Add the sugar and almonds. Stir and simmer gently for 2-3 minutes. Pour the reduced milk into a bowl and let it cool completely. Add half of the pistachios and stir them in.

Cover the bowl with aluminium foil and put it in the freezer (if you have a ice cream machine, you could empty the contents of the bowl into the machine and get it going).

Put 6 small, individual cups, empty yoghurt cartons, or a 900ml pudding bowl into the freezer.

Every 15 minutes or so, remove the ice cream bowl from the freezer and give the ice cream a good stir in order to break up the crystals.

As the ice cream begins to freeze, it will become harder and harder to stir it. When it becomes almost impossible to stir, take the containers out of the freezer.

Work quickly now. Divide the ice cream between the cups or empty it into the pudding bowl. Sprinkle the remaining pistachios over the top.

Cover the cups or bowl with aluminium foil, crinkling the edges to sea them. Put into the freezer and let the ice cream harden.