Sicilian Pumpkin Fry: Simple Yet Delicious Dish To Try

First of all, pumpkin was never my favorite and neither of my husband's. It is a vegetable that is bought in slices, not whole, not even in kilo when I was in the Philippines. 

Here in India, I have become an almost fruitarian -I really have no problem with fruits, 

in fact, I love them. 

Looking at a variety of colorful fruits makes me smile and want to grab them all...lol! 

Because my husband and I are mostly fruitarians, our vegetable intake was on the lower side of the menu. But when we became vegan, we try to balance things out since we cannot neglect the nutritional benefits of eating vegetables. 

And since pumpkin seeds are our favorite, the only way to get them is by asking veggie vendors to give the seeds to us, which many are giving for free, or get the whole pumpkin itself. 

The problem in getting a whole one is that it may get spoiled before we can finish the whole thing (we don't have a fridge, so). 

Though "wasting" is not the issue because we can always give a portion to cows, we avoid it altogether as much as possible. 

So we decide to buy the whole pumpkin itself (it would be impolite to keep on asking for the seeds and never buy the entire vegetable...lol). And a little bit of trivia, many people started eating pumpkin seeds after they knew that Dr. Saab is taking them for eating...haha, funny!

Anyway, I have been experimenting dishes, something I am glad about my husband because he is the one who encourages me to try things out. According to him, we'll never know how something tastes like unless we try it.

So trying is what I do. If the dish turns out good, we may be making it again. If not, then it's an experience.

Sicilian Pumpkin Fry turns out to be a keeper and it's a dish that is highly recommended.

~mint leaves are in plenty in our garden~

Here's what are required:

1. Mature pumpkin, 1/2 kilo or more
2. Salt to taste
3. Vinegar, much for taste
4. Garlic, plenty, crushed
5. Olive oil, much (3-5 tbsp.) depending on how much pumpkin slices there are
6. Mint leaves, fresh, finely chopped

How to do it?

1. Wash the pumpkin thoroughly especially the skin. Never discard the skin, it's full of nutrients.
2. Slice pumpkin into 2-3 inches long and make thin slices out of these. Keep aside.
3. Peel and crush garlic. The more the better because garlic gives the best aroma and taste in this dish.
4. When garlic is ready to be used (after 20 minutes since crushing), heat a short and wide pan for frying.
5. Add a tbsp. of olive oil at a time. When the oil is hot enough, pour in some garlic and a few slices of pumpkin. Stir and make sure all slices get cooked. Avoid getting them scorched. Remove whichever becomes brown.
6. Taking your judgment, when every slice of pumpkin seems cooked enough (a little roasting is fine), remove from the pan and transfer to a big bowl. Keep aside.
7. Repeat the process from 5 to 6 till all pumpkin slices are done.
8. Next, before removing the last batch of fried pumpkin, you can re-heat the previous slices along with it or you can just mix all right away.
9. In the big bowl, add salt and vinegar. Mix well.
10. Pour in chopped mint leaves. Mix well. Check the saltiness and sourness. Generally, you might need to add more of both salt and vinegar to get the biting taste.

~same photo above only that this one is taken with a flash~

Serve while still hot.

Notes:
~ Some people make it with cinnamon bark and sugar to make a sweet and sour variation. I tried that, too. It's tasty also.
~ Out of the 5.5 kilo pumpkin that we bought 2 weeks back, I made Sicilian Pumpkin Fry twice, pumpkin bread once, pumpkin soup once, and chocolate pumpkin cake once (which is still available while I am writing this...lol)
~ The seeds just got dry after 4 days of sun drying and will be roasted, without oil, tomorrow.
~ You will never regret trying this dish out.

Enjoy!