Caramel candied Popcorn

I've loved going to multiplexes all through my time at Mumbai as a student of Journalism on a budget. Yes, they did burn holes into my budgets, but my love for movies and the caramel popcorn would drag me into the halls time an again. So here is yet another Friday around the corner it's movie time; only this time I'm not burning a hole into my pockets. I've made some fresh, hot Caramel-candied Popcorn at home from a recipe I found on an American blogger's blog. (Click here). But I found that lot of the ingredients & method could not be followed here in India. So I've Indian-ised it to my convenience. And I had some fresh, hot, crispy, gooey Caramel-candied Popcorn!

Hot & Crispy Caramel-candied Popcorn

Here's how it's done.

Ingredients

1. Popcorn (Act II- Golden Sizzle flavour)- 140g
2. Brown sugar                                         - 2 cups
    Butter                                                   - 1/2 cup
    Lemon juice (or honey)                         - 1/4 cup
3. Baking soda                                          - 1/2 tbsp


Preparation time: 3 mins (popcorn)
Cooking time    : 20 mins

Method

Fresh 'n' hot popcorn

Though we may use any plain or mildly salted popcorn with no other spice, I've used the Golden sizzle flavour of Act II popcorn here. The classic salted may be a little too salty to my taste, though the caramel-candied popcorn needs to have a slightly salty flavour in it. As per instructions in the pack, I popped the popcorn for 3 minutes flat, in my cooker without using the whistle and then kept it aside to cool. Now, is the tricky part; the caramel sauce.

Brown sugar to be caramelised

We may start fresh in a hard-bottomed kadai by heating the measured up 2 cups of brown sugar and 1/2 a cup of the butter (I used Amul salted) in the kadai. Try and use the butter in room temperature, as it helps for the sugar to blend in faster and saves gas. Once the sugar is all melted into the butter and turns a dark brown you may add the quarter cup of lemon juice in it to get the saucy consistency. The lemon juice helps from the sugar to re-crystallize after being heated & melted. Though the recipe I found suggested using corn syrup, since finding corn-syrup in India is not that easy, I found that lemon juice is a good alternative and works just fine.After adding the lemon juice the caramel turns into a golden-brown shade. We may now stop stirring the sauce & let it boil for 2-3 mins. (You may add a little water if you think the sauce may get drained.) Once the sauce is boiling you may switch-off the gas & add the baking soda and stir the sauce.

Hot caramel sauce

After laying the popcorn onto a microwave over safe platter pour half the sauce over the popcorn and microwave it for about 2.5 mins. Take the dish out and turn the popcorn over to the next side and pour rest of the caramel sauce. And stir again. Microwave it for another 2.5mins. Take the Caramel-candied Popcorn out and let it cool for another 5 mins.

Hot, crispy, gooey and sweet Caramel-candied Popcorn

You may want to crush bite size pieces of the popcorn candy. You may pack it up for your next movie-date or make a bowl full of the candy for your next house party. I'm sure everyone would love it. Everyone at my place did. My mum & our neighbour, who dropped in catching the scent wouldn't stop munching on it. So I'd call this candy crush a grand success!

Well, see you'll again soon. Until then, cheerio!