Coconut Curry Caramel Corn

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/4 cup popcorn kernels
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar

Directions

1. In a small bowl, put the peanuts, coconut milk, and brown sugar. Add the kaffir lime leaf, salt, and reshampatti, then mix everything together. Scrape the mixture into a nonstick sauté pan and set it over high heat. Leave it undisturbed until the peanuts begin to toast and take on color, about 2 minutes. Stir, then keep cooking and stirring for 5 minutes, until the peanuts are browned. They will not color perfectly evenly, and the coconut milk may make the pan smoke a bit; as long as you keep stirring, that is fine.
2. Spread the mixture on a plate and let it cool. At this stage the peanuts will still be a little damp, but they will firm up and turn crisp as they cool. When cooled, separate any clumps and keep them aside until you fold them into the caramel popcorn. If you are not adding them right away, put them in an airtight container at room temperature.
3. Heat the oven to 250°F. Coat an extra-large mixing bowl that is not plastic generously with olive oil spray.
4. Scatter the coconut across a baking sheet. Toast it in the oven, stirring once or twice, until golden, about 8 minutes. Let it cool, and keep the oven on.
5. Pour the oil into a large heavy-bottomed pot, add the corn kernels, and place it over medium-high heat. Put on the lid and shake the pot now and then until the kernels begin popping, about 5 minutes. When they get going, shake the pot nonstop until the popping becomes much less frequent, 3 to 5 minutes. Take the pot off the heat and keep shaking until you no longer hear popping. Tip the popcorn into the prepared bowl, doing your best to leave any unpopped kernels behind. Add the toasted coconut and candied peanuts.
6. Before you start the caramel, thoroughly coat 2 cookie sheets with olive oil spray, along with a rubber spatula and a wooden spoon.
7. In a medium saucepan, stir together the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Set the pan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally with the sprayed spatula, until the butter has melted. Keep cooking, stirring the whole time and watching for splatters from the hot caramel, until the syrup has thickened and a candy thermometer reads 255°F, about 7 minutes. If you are working without a candy thermometer, look for bubbles that become clearly bigger and slower. Take the pan off the heat. Working quickly, stir in the salt and baking soda; add the curry leaf next, then the cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, then turmeric, mace, paprika, cayenne, and cinnamon. Right away, pour the caramel over the popcorn mixture, then use the wooden spoon to toss until the popcorn is evenly coated.
8. Transfer the mixture to the oiled cookie sheets and smooth it into an even layer. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes so it does not scorch.
9. Take the cookie sheets out of the oven and let the popcorn come to room temperature. It will crisp as it cools.
10. Once the popcorn is cool, it is ready to serve immediately.