Almost everyone who asks me about kaddu ke beej at the shop asks the same second question: why are there two prices? The answer is that pumpkin seeds come in two forms. One is the seed in its white shell, the way it comes out of the pumpkin. The other is the green kernel inside, which most people here call magaz. Same seed, different work involved, and that is what you are paying for.
At our shop the in-shell seeds are the bag that moves fastest, most likely because of the rate: Rs 800 for 500g, Rs 1,600 for a kilo. The magaz costs more, Rs 1,300 for 500g and Rs 2,600 a kilo, and the next section explains exactly where that extra money goes. I took these rates straight off our own product pages on 30 October 2026, while writing this piece.
Why the kernels cost more
Two reasons. First, somebody has to crack and clean every seed to get the kernel out, and that labour is priced in. Second, a kilo of kernels is a kilo of food. A kilo of seeds in shell includes the weight of all those white shells, and the shells go in the bin. So the honest comparison is not 1,600 against 2,600. It is what each rupee buys you in seeds you actually eat.
Before writing this I went through what other Pakistani stores are charging. ZouqFoods sells kernels in jars, and if you work a jar price back to a full kilo it comes to somewhere between Rs 3,100 and Rs 4,300. Sehat Naturals asks Rs 1,256 for a small 250g pack, which crosses Rs 5,000 a kilo. The plainer kilo listings for kernels mostly sit between Rs 2,400 and Rs 3,000. Against that, our kernels at Rs 2,600 are ordinary mid-range, and our in-shell seeds at Rs 1,600 a kilo are cheaper than most listings I could find.
Which one should you buy?
This depends entirely on how you plan to eat them, so here is what I tell people at the counter.
Buy them in shell if you snack. Cracking seeds one by one slows you down, and that is a genuine advantage with something this rich. You get the fibre from the shell side too, and they keep longer because the kernel is protected inside. A plate of these with evening tea lasts the whole sitting.
Buy the kernels if they are going into food. Kernels go straight onto salads, into raita, over halwa and kheer, into granola and baking, or ground into a powder for smoothies. No shelling, no mess, and they are the practical choice for children and older people who should not be cracking shells with their teeth.
On a tight budget for daily eating? Do the maths on the kernels you will actually consume, not the bag weight. For most households that snack daily, in shell still wins on price. For a small daily portion eaten as a health habit, kernels waste nothing and are easier to measure.
What is in a handful
Pumpkin seeds get called a superfood, which is a word I avoid. What they actually are is unusually concentrated. A 30g handful of kernels, roughly two heaped tablespoons, gives you:
| Nutrient | Per 30g kernels | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | About 160 kcal | Rich for its size, so portions count |
| Protein | About 8 to 9g | High for a plant food |
| Magnesium | About 160mg | Roughly 40% of what an adult needs in a day |
| Zinc | About 2.2mg | Roughly 20% of the daily need |
| Iron | About 2.5mg | Useful, especially for people who eat little meat |
| Fat | About 14g | Mostly unsaturated, the kind nutrition advice favours |
Magnesium is the real story here. Many adults quietly fall short of it, and very few common foods pack this much into such a small portion. That one fact explains most of the seed's reputation. The rest is supporting cast.
The benefits people actually ask me about
Sleep. Pumpkin seeds contain tryptophan, a building block the body uses to make serotonin and then melatonin, plus magnesium, which plays a part in normal sleep. Plenty of customers swear by a small handful in the evening. I will be straight with you: the reasoning is sound, the hard proof is thin. Treat it as a sensible habit, not a sleeping pill.
Hair. You may have seen the claim that pumpkin seeds grow hair. It comes from a 2014 study where men taking pumpkin seed oil capsules, 400mg a day for 24 weeks, saw their hair count rise by about 40%. Note the word oil. Nobody has shown that snacking on seeds does the same thing. The zinc and iron in the seeds do support normal hair, and that is as far as honesty lets me go.
Men's health. This is the oldest use of the seed and the reason many men over forty buy it. Zinc matters for men's health, and pumpkin seed preparations have a long history of use for urinary comfort in an enlarged prostate. The research support sits mostly with concentrated oils and extracts, not with a handful of seeds. Eat the seeds for their nutrition. See a doctor for prostate symptoms.
Heart. The magnesium and the mostly unsaturated fats are both things heart guidance generally approves of, and studies on pumpkin seed oil have shown modest blood pressure effects. As part of a decent diet, the seeds pull their weight.
Weight. Both directions get asked. For weight loss, protein, fat and fibre together keep you full, so a measured handful can replace a worse snack. For weight gain, the same handful adds 160 easy calories to a shake or a bowl of oats. What the seeds will not do is burn fat on their own. Anyone who tells you that is selling something.
How much should you eat?
About 30g a day. That is two heaped tablespoons of kernels, or a small palmful of seeds in shell. It covers a serious share of your magnesium and zinc without taking over your calorie budget.
Past 50g a day, two things happen. The calories stop being small, since 100g of kernels carries around 550 calories, and the fat and fibre start making some stomachs complain. More is not better with this food. A little, daily, beats a lot, occasionally.
Do not throw away the seeds from your cooking pumpkin
If kaddu is cooked at home, and in most Pakistani homes it is, the seeds usually go straight into the bin. That is good food wasted. Scoop them out, wash off the stringy pulp, spread them on a tray until they are fully dry, then roast them on a low flame in a dry karahi or tawa with a pinch of salt, stirring so they colour evenly. Ten to fifteen minutes does it. Eat them within a few days. They will not be as plump as the big seeded pumpkins our stock comes from, but they are fresh, free, and better than the bin.
Keeping them fresh in our weather
The oils in the kernels are the nutrition and also the weak point, because oil turns in heat. Keep seeds in an airtight jar, away from sunlight and away from the stove side of the kitchen. In peak summer, kernels honestly keep better in the fridge. If a batch smells bitter or paint-like, it has turned. Do not eat it, and do not let a seller convince you otherwise.
Questions I hear most
Raw or roasted? Raw keeps a touch more of the nutrients. A short, gentle roast costs very little and tastes far better. Eat whichever you will actually eat daily.
When is the best time to eat them? Whenever suits your routine. With breakfast they disappear into oats or yogurt without effort. In the evening, they suit people who are eating them with sleep in mind. Consistency matters more than the clock.
Can children eat pumpkin seeds? Yes, and kernels are the right form for them, not seeds in shell. A tablespoon stirred into food is plenty for a child.
In shell or kernels for weight loss? In shell, for most people. The cracking slows the eating, and a portion that takes twenty minutes satisfies more than the same portion gone in two.
Buying them from us
WD Foods is the online store of Wahid Nimco, working from Quetta since 1990. You can order pumpkin seeds with shell at Rs 1,600 a kilo or the shelled kernels at Rs 2,600 a kilo, and we deliver across Pakistan in 3 to 5 business days. If you are in Quetta, the shop on Masjid Road is open every day from 9 AM to 10 PM, and you are welcome to come and ask these same questions in person.
Written by Syed Azib Anjum for WD Foods, Quetta. We pack and sell these seeds ourselves, and this guide is based on the questions our customers ask us most. Prices in this article were checked on 30 October 2026 and can change with the season, so please confirm the current rate on the product page before ordering.
Shop pumpkin seeds with shell · Shop pumpkin seeds without shell (magaz)
Written by
Syed Azib Anjum
Marketing Head and Writer at WD Foods
Syed Azib Anjum runs WD Foods, the online store of Wahid Nimco in Quetta, and writes or reviews every guide on this blog. His articles come from daily work with nimko, dry fruits and seeds, and the prices he quotes are checked on the live product pages of this store.
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