Dried pumpkin is a remarkably tasty and very healthy product. Of all the types of winter preparations, it is drying that saves almost the entire vitamin-mineral composition of vegetables. At home, you can dry an orange vegetable in a conventional oven or in a special electric dryer.
In winter, dried pumpkin slices can be eaten as a sweet treat or used to prepare various dishes. Salads, soups, snacks, meat casseroles, fish and vegetables can be made from dried pumpkin. Powder from crushed dried pumpkin is added to homemade cakes to improve its taste and appearance.
Dried Pumpkin - General Cooking Principles
All pumpkin varieties are suitable for drying, but it is better to take autumn ones with a thick peel. They dry faster and are very tasty.
The fruit should be whole, fully ripe, without spots and signs of spoilage. It must be washed well, cut into pieces, clean the pulp and seeds. Then cut the peel and chop the flesh. How exactly? It all depends on the particular dish.
Options are as follows:
• thin plates (on chips);
• narrow strips of 5 mm thick (for soups, salads, in vegetable and meat dishes);
• in small cubes (for candied candied fruit).
To prepare pumpkin flour, dried plates or strips need to be chopped in a mortar or rolled in a meat grinder with a fine grill.
Before drying, pumpkin slices can be processed in two different ways. The first is blanching. Prepared slices are kept in boiling water for two minutes. Thanks to blanching, dried pumpkin will retain a bright color.
To protect the workpiece from pests and spoilage, before drying, pieces of pumpkin can be treated with saline.
For drying pumpkins at home, an electric or gas oven, special drying, air grill are suitable. Drying time and temperature are selected depending on the type of appliance, the thickness of the pieces and even the pumpkin variety. The average temperature is from 50 ° to 85 °. Ready-made dried pumpkin does not stick to fingers, although it retains elasticity.
Dried Pumpkin in the Oven
To make the dried pumpkin in the oven tasty and beautiful, before laying it in the oven, you need to wrap it in boiling water, that is, blanch. Drying lasts about 8 hours, which must be taken into account when planning your day.
Ingredients:
• a piece of pumpkin weighing 1.5-2 kilograms;
• 2 liters of water;
• a teaspoon of salt.
Cooking method:
Wash a piece of pumpkin thoroughly and dry it on a paper towel.
With a sharp knife, cut the peel, cut the flesh, remove the seeds.
Cut the pumpkin into equal even strips no more than a centimeter thick.
Prepare a bowl of ice water.
Boil water in a saucepan, salt.
Blanch pumpkin slices in boiling water for one to two minutes.
Remove with a slotted spoon and immediately lower into ice water for two minutes.
Put in a colander to glass all the water.
Preheat the oven to a temperature of 55 ° to 65 °.
Put the pumpkin slices on one baking sheet so that they do not touch each other.
Send the sheet to the oven for five hours. Open the door to allow evaporating moisture to exit.
Raise the temperature in the oven to 80-85 ° and dry the pumpkin for two to three hours.
Allow the dried pumpkin to cool, put it in canvas bags or glass jars and put it in storage.
Dried pumpkin in an electric dryer
The technology for preparing pumpkin slices for drying in a special drying device is the same as for drying in an oven. It is better to cut the pumpkin into small cubes - they will dry better.
Ingredients:
• pumpkin weighing 2-3 kilograms;
• 3 liters of water;
• a tablespoon of salt.
Cooking method:
Wash the pumpkin, cut into several parts, remove the fibers and seeds, peel.
First cut each piece into thin slices, then into small cubes. It is important that they have the same size, but after drying do not fall into the holes of the grate.
In salted boiling water, blanch slices of pumpkin in the same way as described above. Cool in cold water, dry.
Arrange the pieces of pumpkin on a wire rack so that they do not touch.
Set the average temperature (relative to the power of the device) and dry until ready. At a temperature of 90 ° with the airing mode, drying will take 4-5 hours. At a lower temperature (50-60 °) it will take approximately 12 hours.
Finished pieces of pumpkin will be reduced in size by about half.
Pumpkin dried in an electric dryer with cubes resembles candied fruit, it turns out elastic and very tasty.
Dried Pumpkin: Sesame Chips
Slightly brackish thin slices of dried pumpkin are a great substitute for potato chips. For such pumpkin chips, dense pumpkin varieties with unsweetened pulp are suitable. We will cook them in an electric dryer.
Ingredients:
• a piece of pumpkin weighing two kilograms;
• a tablespoon of spices to taste (paprika, black pepper, caraway seeds, coriander, etc.);
• a tablespoon of salt;
• a tablespoon of sesame seeds;
• two liters of water.
Cooking method:
Peel the pumpkin and cut into thin plates-medallions with a thickness of not more than three millimeters.
Boil the water, salt it and throw the pumpkin plates in boiling water for a minute.
Immerse the blanched pumpkin immediately in cold water. After a minute, remove and place on a towel or put in a colander.
Slightly moist, fresh pieces of pumpkin on the grill of the electric dryer, season to taste with spices, sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Turn on the device and dry the chips for about six hours at a temperature of 60 °.
Drain for another two hours at a temperature of 80 °.
Dried pumpkin slices will be ready in an electric dryer approximately 8 hours after the start of drying.
Store pumpkin chips in a glass bowl with a vacuum lid.
Dried pumpkin powder
Dried pumpkin pulp can turn into a nutritious, tasty and extremely healthy product - pumpkin powder, or flour. There are two ways to get the foundation for it. First, pumpkin pulp may remain after the juice has been harvested. Secondly, you can simply dry the pumpkin and grind it into powder. It will consist entirely of healthy fiber and retain all minerals and vitamins. The number of pumpkins is indicated arbitrarily.
Ingredients:
• three kilograms of pumpkin pulp;
• 3-4 liters of water.
Cooking method:
Cut the pumpkin into pieces, peel the insides and skin.
Cut pumpkin pulp into small pieces, not caring for beauty.
Throw slices of pumpkin into boiling water and cook for twenty minutes.
Cool soft boiled pumpkin, then mashed with a blender. If there is no blender, you can simply wipe the pieces through a regular sieve.
Put pumpkin puree in a thin layer on a piece of baking paper.
Dry the mashed potatoes in the oven, heating it to 130 degrees.
After 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the layer, the plate will be dried.
The dried pumpkin in the oven will remain chopped, put in paper bags or glass containers.
Dried pumpkin lemon candied fruit
A simple recipe for candied pumpkin is sure to come in handy for families where young children grow up. Instead of store sweets, you can cook pumpkin dried in an electric dryer (with convection) and make it practically indistinguishable from harmful treats. It takes a lot of time to prepare, but the result will please.
Ingredients:
• two kilograms of pumpkin;
• six hundred grams of sugar;
• two medium lemons;
• half a glass of powdered sugar;
• water.
Cooking method:
Cut pumpkin flesh into small cubes with a side no more than 2 cm.
Pour future candied fruits with sugar and leave overnight.
Pumpkin should let juice. It must be drained into a separate container.
Peel the lemons, remove the seeds and grate (can be chopped in a blender). Pour all the resulting mass into pumpkin juice, mix.
Bring lemon-pumpkin syrup to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to a minimum and boil for three minutes with constant stirring.
Strain the syrup, pour it into the pumpkin, put it on the fire.
Cook until the syrup thickens for about an hour and a half.
Drain the remaining syrup, strain the pieces of pumpkin.
Lay them out on wax paper.
Dry in an electric dryer by turning on convection at a temperature of 50 °.
Candied fruits will be ready in 12 hours.
Slices of pumpkin should be completely cooled.
Now they can be sprinkled with powdered sugar and put into a glass jar for storage.
Dried Pumpkin Snack
Dried pumpkin in the oven or in an electric dryer is great for making light snacks and salads.
Ingredients:
• one hundred grams of dried pumpkin (it is better to take thin strips);
• one hundred grams of peeled walnuts;
• two cloves of garlic;
• a bunch of fresh herbs (to taste: dill, cilantro, parsley);
• a tablespoon of wine vinegar;
• salt and pepper to taste;
• half a pod of hot pepper (optional).
Cooking method:
Pour slices of dried pumpkin with a liter of water, salt with a pinch of salt and cook until the pumpkin slices soften.
While boiling the pumpkin, peel and grate the garlic.
Crush walnuts in a mortar. If there is no mortar, they can be chopped with a knife or rolled with a rolling pin.
Chop greens.
Remove the finished pumpkin with a slotted spoon, condemn, then squeeze.
Stir all the ingredients of the appetizer, season with wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
Dried Pumpkin - Tips and Tricks
Pumpkin dried in an electric dryer or oven is best stored at a temperature of 10 ° to 15 ° and low humidity (up to 60%). You can fold the slices into breathable canvas bags, but hermetically sealed containers and glass jars with a vacuum lid are best suited for long-term storage of dried vegetables.
To keep the pumpkins longer, put a dry parchment sheet on the bottom of the containers, and cover the slices with the same sheet.
Very sweet varieties of pumpkins can be dried specifically to give children instead of chips and sweets. In addition, do not add sugar during drying to maximize the benefits. You can take such sweet and healthy strips with you to work as a light snack.
