Here’s a quick and fun quarantine snack that you can make at home with some pantry staples – in fact that’s how we were inspired to make this for ourselves.  We’ve been doing some cleaning out of our apartment and discovered that in our kitchen we had some popcorn kernels from long ago and leftover ghee for when we made saag paneer.  Those two things, plus our huge collection of spices, made us want to come up with some interesting, unique popcorn to munch on.  Here’s our easy, tasty recipe.

To make this, you’ll need:

• Popcorn kernels
• Ghee
• Cumin seeds
• Mustard seeds
• Red pepper flakes
• Paprika

You’ll want to measure out 2/3 cup of popcorn kernels and let them pop in a popcorn maker (or pop them on your stovetop), watching them carefully to make sure they don’t burn.  Meanwhile, scoop out 1/4 cup of ghee and warm it in a pot over medium heat.  Once it’s completely melted, add in 2 teaspoons each of cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and red pepper flakes, plus a generous pinch of salt, then let everything cook and sizzle for 3-5 minutes, until the seeds start to brown.  Take the pot off the stove and stir in a teaspoon of paprika.

Then mix the ghee and spices with your popcorn.

Once the popcorn has cooled down slightly, it’s yours to snack on!

We’re really big fans of popcorn so it was nice to get out of our rut of eating it with butter or whatever is in those dispensers at the movies.  Ghee is a lot like butter when it’s melted and it pairs really well with these spices, so it makes for a satisfying popcorn coating that sets the stage for some great flavors.  Overall the popcorn is slightly spicy and really complex in its tastes, which lets you savor each piece instead of mindlessly shoveling popcorn in your mouth.  You can also get creative with using different spices than what we’ve suggested, so even if you don’t follow our exact recipe we hope you’re inspired to try out a new kind of popcorn.