The dry pumpkin seed is "sleeping". Everything that should subsequently grow out of it “dormant” in the embryo. But as soon as the seed creates conditions for development (growth), all the vital forces inherent in it wake up. If you include sprouted pumpkin seeds in your daily diet, the body will receive incomparable benefits. But just chewing such a product is boring, the process can quickly get bored. It is much more expedient to use it in the form of various dishes.
How to germinate pumpkin seeds correctly
Soak peeled pumpkin seeds in room temperature water overnight. Rinse in the morning, lay out on a damp cloth and put away in a cool place, covered with one layer of gauze. Rinse the seeds with clean water every 4-5 hours. As a rule, healthy seeds germinate by the end of the second day. On the third day after germination, they begin to taste bitter, so it is recommended to use them immediately, or at least within one or two days. If not eaten right away, wrap them in a damp cloth and put them in the refrigerator, where they can be stored for up to 5-6 days, provided they are rinsed with cold water twice a day, incl. before use. Rancid seeds with a pungent smell are no longer suitable for food.
However, there are two ways to save them:
- freeze in fast freeze mode;
- dry in the oven at 80 ° C with the door ajar and then grind into flour.
Whole sprouted seeds
As soon as the pumpkin seeds germinate, eat them with water or milk (no more than 50 g per day), add to salads, first and second courses, cereals, sauces, etc. You can also combine them with honey and use them as a delicacy, or include them in bread dough (however, when baked, sprouted seeds will lose some of their beneficial properties).
Shredded sprouted seeds
Grind the sprouted pumpkin seeds with a blender or mince them. The resulting nutritious product can be used in the same way as whole seeds, i.e. feel free to add to ready-made cereals, gravies and sauces, soups, as well as various drinks - kefir, jelly, juices, cocktails, etc. Crushed sprouted pumpkin seeds are organically combined with grated carrots, crushed nuts, dried fruits, fresh herbs, lemon juice and other products.
Pumpkin milk
Having prepared milk from sprouted pumpkin seeds, you can simply drink it like ordinary cow's milk, or you can cook various cereals on it, add to drinks - tea, jelly, coffee, fruit drink, knead dough for baking on it, incl. sweet, etc.
Milk recipe. Take 1 part of sprouted pumpkin seeds (both barely hatched and 2-3-day-old seedlings are suitable) and mince them or chop them with a blender. Then, with constant stirring, slowly pour 4 parts of water into the resulting mixture and strain through a sieve or squeeze through 2 layers of cheesecloth. The milk is ready. By the way, do not throw away the cake, but knead the dough for bread or pancakes on it, or just eat it, since it is a very healthy product (you can add honey to it to improve the taste).
Sprouted Seed Baking
Sprouted pumpkin seeds give the baked goods an original amazing taste. When kneading the dough, you can use them in a fairly large amount - up to 1/3 of the total mass. However, in this case, the cleaned seeds should not be germinated until sprouts appear, it is enough to soak them in water for 3-4 hours before using them as one of the ingredients of the dough, the further process of activating the seeds will take place already during the kneading and "ripening" of the dough.
There is another option for using sprouted pumpkin seeds in baked goods. Add the dried seeds and ground into flour when kneading dough for bread, pies and buns at the rate of 3-4 tbsp. l. for 800 g of wheat flour. Even such an amount of pumpkin flour will significantly enrich the baked goods with an easily digestible complete protein, increase its organoleptic properties and shelf life (such products remain soft for a long time).
In addition, pumpkin flour, combined with various spices and spices, is an excellent breading of meat and fish schnitzels and cutlets.
