Game Day Popcorn: Curried and Carameled

If you are a college football fan, tonight is your night. The BCS National Championship is tonight which is supposed to tell us who’s the nation’s best college football team. Why have a tournament when you can have a crazy computer program figure out who should be playing in one game to decide all the marbles? End rant.

If you miss this game though, then there are the NFL Playoffs. Sometime in the next few weeks you are most likely going to watch a football game and you will need some snacks for this. One of my default snacks is homemade popcorn.

I’m not really sure how the microwave popcorn industry has survived this long. I mean, I like microwaved popcorn if I’m at work or on the road or something, but if I’m at home it takes just a few more minutes to make real popcorn. Oh and it costs cents per bowl.

I bought this whole bag for $.99. I’ll get probably 10-12 large bowls of popcorn from it. For this post, I made one batch of popcorn (about 10-12 cups) and then did two different things with it: one salty and one sweet.

Below is how I make my homemade popcorn and it is practically fail proof. Take a medium-sized pan and cover the bottom of it with kernels. Then cover those kernels with a layer of vegetable oil until all the kernels are just covered. No measuring or anything. Just do that.

One quick note. There are two or three different kinds of popcorn kernels. Some are fluffier and larger. I got just the normal yellow kernel for this recipe. The cooking process is the same no matter what you choose.

Put the lid on this pot and stick it over medium heat. Then don’t touch it until the kernels start to pop. Should just take a few minutes.

Meanwhile, I prepped my curry salt.

Curry Seasoning

- 1 Teaspoon curry powder
- 1 Teaspoon seasons salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon basil
- 1/2 Teaspoon salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon cumin

This amount of spice should be enough for a whole batch of popcorn unless you like it really spicy. Obviously you can make as much as you want and I encourage you to adjust according to your tastes.

What’s that I hear? By the time you mix all those things together, your kernels will probably be popping. This is the only tricky part of the situation and sorry I couldn’t take a photo of it but I was busy. It isn’t that hard. Just lift your pan a bit above the burner and shake back and forth. Don’t take the lid off. In fact, I like to hold the lid down with one hand while I shake with the other. You want to keep all of that steam trapped in there but move the unpopped kernels back and forth so they don’t burn to the bottom.

Should only take a minute or so for the popping to be done. You won’t hear any more popping and the kernels will most likely be hugging the top of your pan. Now you can take the lid off and pour it straight into a bowl. Ideally, you won’t have any unpopped kernels.

If you are doing the curry spice or just salt, do it right away while the kernels are hot.

Like I said, I split up my bowl and curried up one half and reserved one half for the caramel side.

I’ve been making caramel corn from scratch for a few years now and I can guarantee you that it is much better than that stuff you get in Christmas tins (and that stuff isn’t so bad).

You’ll need these things:

Caramel Corn

- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 Teaspoon salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 10 cups popcorn

First, preheat your oven to 250. Yes. 250. Then melt your butter in a medium saucepan and add in your light brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Keep stirring this over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves completely. That will only take a minute. Then: Don’t touch it.

This won’t burn unless you forget about it. Stay close but don’t stir it. It will start to bubble which is good. Let it bubble for about 5 minutes.

Then you need to go from watching to working. And you need to move pretty fast. Add your vanilla and your baking soda to the pan. When you add the baking soda, give it a quick stir. The baking soda will make it start to bubble even more. Take it off the heat and right away pour it over your popcorn.

Then stir it together real well to combine evenly. Pour your popcorn into a baking dish and pop it in that oven.

This will need to cook for 1 hour at 250 and you need to stir it every 15 minutes. Trust me. It is worth it. Once an hour is up, pour your caramel corn out onto some parchment paper to cool. You could also just pour it out on your counter if it is super clean. Spread out your corn as much as you can so the kernels don’t clump too much.

I like to serve popcorn with a salty and sweet option. The curry is good. The caramel is good. Feel free to make one or the other, but when served together that spot in the middle where you get some curry and some caramel is absolutely perfect.

I promise once you make this stuff homemade you won’t be buying much of the microwaved stuff.