It is so easy to switch things over whenever you realise that you have been eating the same food every day, there are many quick and healthy recipes to try out whenever you feel like giving a new feel to your taste bud. Pumpkin chips are simple healthy snacks idea for any time of the day, every part of this pumpkin is edible and delicious, whether it is the pulp, seeds or the bark; all of these can be used for different recipes like pumpkin porridge, pumpkin soups, chocolate chip cookies and for pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin chips are prepared exactly like yam chips and plantain chips; one good thing about pumpkin chips is that you can enjoy them as breakfast, lunch or as dinner, and you can pair them up with fried egg, and if you prefer to eat them the way they are, you can do so. As savoury as this recipe is, you can prepare it simple with few healthy ingredients by adding in a little ground cinnamon, salt and chilli powder to give the chips a better taste and aroma. In addition, you can decide to bake your pumpkin chips or fry them with vegetable oil, but just make sure you do not over leave the chips on heat, they would turn dark and bitter in taste.

Pumpkin fries are another way to enjoy pumpkin vegetable, as it is very simple to prepare. If you love yam chips or sweet potato chips, you will sure love pumpkin chips and if you want to know what pumpkin is all about you can read more on my previous pumpkin recipeand learn what this yellow looking vegetable is all about, and the various dishes you can prepare pumpkin with

Pumpkin has a very sweet taste, but the chips can easily turn out soggy after they have been fried, you will need to soak the pumpkin chips for about 30 minutes before frying them and even if you want to bake them in the oven, you still need to soak them first to get rid of excess starch . In addition, you will need to dry the moisture completely before baking or frying them with oil and try not to over crowd the pan with too many pumpkin chips, frying or baking the chips in batches will help the chips to stay crispy instead of steaming in oil and turning soggy after all.

In this recipe, I used a very ripe and sweet pumpkin- the deep orange pumpkin with a thick texture to make these chips, which means an additional flavour and sweetness to my snacks. You may prefer to serve the chips in a very simple way or you can pair it with sauce or with some nice juice drink. For the pumpkin seeds, dont be too quick to throw them yet, they have so many healthy functions and uses which you will find in this pumpkin seed recipe and in a short while, I will bring to your notice some other pumpkin seed recipes which am still thinking about in my head. Lets get back to the main recipe without much talking.

Ingredients for making pumpkin fries

1. 1 small pumpkin vegetable
2. vegetable oil for frying, but you can bake the chips instead
3. teaspoon ground cinnamon
4. 1/ teaspoon paprika or chilli powder
5. teaspoon salt
6. Grated cheese(optional)

Halves pumpkin

Directions to make pumpkin chips

1. Cut pumpkin into halves and scoop out the seeds and stringy pumpkin.
2. Peel off the hard back and slice pumpkin into thin strips.
3. Soak pumpkin in cold water 30 minutes and drain the water afterward to reduce excess starch.
4. Make sure the slices are not having water, toast the slices with salt, paprika and cinnamon.
5. Heat up oil and start frying the pumpkin chip for 5- 10 minutes or until they are golden.
6. Remove the chips from the oil and drain in a colander or paper towel.
7. Enjoy the chips immediately with sauce or your preferred dip.

Simple direction to make pumpkin chips

1. With a sharp knife cut pumpkin into two parts and scoop out the seeds and the hairy pulp.

Slicing of pumpkin

2. Cut the halves into smaller shapes for easy peeling, after peeling off the hard skin, cut the pumpkin into thin strips

3.Soak the pumpkin chips in cool water for 30 minutes and then drain out the liquid.

4. Let the pumpkin dry completely; season with salt, paprika, cinnamon, and toast well to combine.

Season pumpkin chips with your favouriite spice and toast the chips to coat well

5. Heat up vegetable oil and start frying the pumpkin chips, this might take about 5-10 minutes or do this until they are golden. You can choose to bake the pumpkin chips in an oven if you prefer that, this will take about 25-30 minutes to cook in a preheated oven.

6. Once the chips are brown to your taste, take them out from the oil.

Frying of pumpkin chips

7. Drain the chips with a paper towel and serve them immediately with grated cheese or sauce.

savoury crispy pumpkin fries