Enjoying Halloween with a healthy snack

Every year for halloween I decorate the house with scary stuff and buy a lot of candy for the neighbourhood kids. Its so much fun to look at all their costumes and their smiles, after getting candy. Even though most moms wont agree with me, I enjoy giving them candy. While waiting for the kids to knock, we carve pumpkins and I roast the seeds for healthy snacking later.




Showcasing our carving talents


Pumpkin seeds are healthy as they are filled with fiber, zinc and omega 3 fatty acids. They also help lower cholesterol levels. Remember to wash and strain the pumpkin seeds, as this will help remove the fibrous pumpkin flesh. Also eating the pumpkin seeds with the skin on increases its nutritional value.


Pumpkin seeds washed and cleaned, ready to be munched on


Ingredients:

Cleaned pumpkin seeds
Chilli powder - as needed
Salt - as needed
Garam masala - as needed
Lime juice - a few teaspoons

Method:

Sprinkle the seeds liberally with salt and chilli powder as per taste. Also add a pinch of garam masala. It helps to sprinkle the seeds with masala when the seeds are wet, as the masala sticks to the seeds better. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and distribute the pumpkin seeds evenly. Broil at 500F for a few minutes till it turns golden brown. Remember to toss it few times to allow even cooking. Also keep an eye on it as it can get burnt easily. Remove from oven, sprinkle with lime juice and serve. It can also be stored in an air tight container for a few days.



HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Comments

bee said…
we have tons of squash with lots of seeds. we bake them, but i think broiling is a better idea.
3:48 PM
Deepz said…
Bee: Ive never tried squash seeds before and my husband seems to like cruncy better. Will give squash seeds a try.
4:58 PM
Anonymous said…
Great pumpkins! And yummy pumpkin seeds! I have some pumpkin "vomit" to convert into these yummies! Tomorrow!
12:42 AM
Swaroopa said…
gr8 snack recipe for the fall! thanx 4 sharing.
9:58 AM
ambikai said…
hi maam,
I am a new to cooking as i got married now. As i am a chennailite girl i am impressed ur recipes. yesterday i hve searched for pudina chutney with different taste suddenly i got ur blog. Really Awesome. Delightful Recipes. Can u pls post the recipes of gobi 65 and mutton briyani. i.e. Recipes of easter festival.
9:43 PM
Kribha said…
Nice idea to use the pumpkin seeds. never tried it before. Thanks for sharing this quick snack idea.
11:05 AM
Deepz said…
Manisha: Your pumpkin vomit looked perfect for halloween. Very innovative.

Thanks swaroopa & kribha.

Gnanam: Thanks for your lovely comments. I will try to post those recipes as soon as possible.
11:24 AM
ME said…
This reminds me of our old paati's recipes back home...You don't seem to waste anything :-) Healthy too!
9:31 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Green Blog Project - Summer 2007

Image
Last year when I first read about the Green Blog Project , I was very excited as we had so many veggies growing in our backyard and this was a good event to participate in. I was a month old in the food blogging world and it was one of the first few events that I participated in. I made vegetable fried rice from carrots and beans and tomato thokku from tomatoes grown in my backyard. After sending my entries I was eagerly waiting for the roundup and was amazed at all the other entries. I usually stick to traditional and easy growing veggies. But after looking at the roundup, I was surprised to see so many people growing traditional Indian veggies with such ease. This effort started by InjiPennu has encouraged a lot of food bloggers to grow their own vegetables either be it in small containers/pots or a big backyard. I had totally dismissed the idea of growing anything in winter. When Mandira of Ahaar hosted the GBP winter/spring 2007 event and gave us some very good tips on grow...
Read more

Arachu vitta sambar, Kovakkai (tindora) varuval, Podalangai (padval) poriyal

Image
I have lots of Indian vegetables stocked in my fridge after my last week's Indian grocery shop visit. I had murungakai (drumsticks), podalangai(padval), kovakkai(tindora) and fresh coconut. So decided to make some very Indian (specifically Tamilian) dishes with those vegetables for dinner last night. When I think of drumsticks the first thing that comes to my mind is Sambar. I was bored of making the regular sambar and hence decided to go with arachu vitta sambar. The main ingredient in this type of sambar is the freshly ground masala and it adds a very unique and different taste. Then decided to do something spicy and dry to go with it and hence a varuval. With the fresh coconut I decided to do some poriyal. So the final menu was arachu vitta murungakkai (drumsticks) sambar, kovakkai (tindora) (ivy gourd) varuval and podalangai (padval) (snake gourd) poriyal. Arachu Vitta Sambar: Ingredients: Thur dal (cooked and mashed) – 1½ cups Drumsticks (cut) – ½ cup Onion (chopped) – 2 Tomat...
Read more

Adai and pudina chutney

Image
Last night I was in the mood for idli or dosa but did not have the batter ready. The idli/dosa batter usually takes time preparing (6hrs to soak the ingredients and 6 hrs to ferment the ground batter). So I decided to make Adai as it takes about 2hrs to soak, grind, ferment and to prepare. Adai is pretty filling and high in protein as different varieties of dal are used. Adai: Ingredients: Idli rice (can be substituted with any available rice) - 1 cup Whole urad dal - 3/4 cup Channa dal - 3/4 cup Thur dal - 3/4 cup Ginger - 2 inch piece Shredded coconut - 1/4 cup Red chillies - 4 (can be increased for additional spice) Jeera - 2 tsp Curd - 1 tbsp Salt - as needed Method: Soak rice and all dal ingredients together in enough water for 2hrs. If you are in a real hurry 1hr should be enough. Grind all the above ingredients to a dosa batter consistency. It is fine if the mix is a little course. Also if you are using an US bought blender, grind the above in batches as the motor heats up prett...
Read more