In my house Halloween is no longer about carving a pumpkin - it’s about nibbling roasted pumpkin seeds! This recipe is easy and doesn’t take all night. Suddenly you too will be agreeing to the children carving a pumpkin each - any excuse to get your hands on more seeds to roast!

Spread the seeds over a baking sheet and sprinkle with a little salt. Bake at 350C until golden (listen out for them popping open and reduce the temperature if necessary). You can eat them now but hold on… they’re better after the next step!

In a bowl mix the following spices together: approx a teaspoon each of cumin, garam masala* and paprika. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon and salt. two tablespoons of sugar - use golden demerara if you have it. Set mixture aside.

Put some oil into a saucepan or wok and heat it. Add your roasted pumpkin seeds and another two tablespoons of sugar. Mix this until the sugar caramelises - only a few seconds (it may smoke a little).

Sprinkle over the spice mix and stir well. Eat hot or cold. Yummy… does anyone have any pumpkin seeds going spare?

(*Garam masala is a spice blend that includes cumin, coriander, celery salt and ginger - if you don’t have it, simply use a subsitute) You could no doubt use the same idea to coat other seeds and nuts - I can’t help thinking about cashews…