Coconut Curry Caramel Corn

Popcorn and I have a special relationship. We’ve spent a lot of time together over the years. For as long as I can remember, it’s been one of my favorite things to eat. I keep it simple. The perfect recipe is a huge bowl of salted popcorn, a couch, and something ridiculous to watch on tv. I used to make chile oil for the sole purpose of using it to pop popcorn, but these days, I use plain grapeseed oil, pop the kernels in a Whirley Pop, and sometimes add truffle salt. However, every once in a while I’m willing to try new things with this beloved ingredient. An occasional caramel corn is not out of the question. In fact, when I saw this Coconut Curry Caramel Corn in Susan Feniger's Street Food, I wasted no time in gathering everything I needed to make it. The recipe is also available online. Some sweet and spicy candied peanuts are made with finely chopped lime leaf and coconut milk, and those are mixed into the caramel corn. Then, spices like cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, and cayenne are mixed into the caramel before it coats the popcorn, candied peanuts, and some toasted coconut. Luckily, the recipe makes a lot because this was a very addictive snack. 

Making the candied peanuts was quick and easy, and they can be made in advance and stored at room temperature. You don’t want to walk away from the stove though. They need to be stirred and the heat may need to be turned down to prevent burning. Unsalted peanuts were mixed with coconut milk, dark brown sugar, finely chopped lime leaf, salt, and ground cayenne. The mixture was transferred to a saute pan and cooked over high heat for almost two minutes before stirring while continuing to cook for another five minutes or so. The nuts were then spread on a baking sheet and left to cool and crisp. Next, big pieces of shredded coconut were toasted in the oven while popcorn was popped. The popcorn, coconut, and candied peanuts were combined in a large mixing bowl. To make the caramel, butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup were combined in a saucepan and cooked while stirring until it reached 255 degrees F. Off the heat, salt, baking soda, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, mace, paprika, cayenne, and cinnamon were added. The curry caramel was poured over and mixed into the popcorn mixture. Last, the caramel corn was spread on two baking sheets and baked for an hour at 250 degrees F and was stirred every twenty minutes. 

As I wasn’t able to stop eating this caramel corn, I noticed that one bite would seem sweet while the next seemed a little hot from the cayenne. Then, I’d notice the other spices more in the following bite before the sweet flavor returned again. It made it very hard to step away from the bowl of caramel corn. I think it will work just as well as my usual, simply salted popcorn in the recipe above with the couch and tv. 

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