Popcorn at cinema - shaking up a storm!

Driving through peak time Chennai traffic with rains just on our heels or rather wheels we managed to get to Sathyam theatre in time for the movie. Without wasting any time, we bought some popcorn and nachos for a complete Friday movie experience. Then, tending our prized small tub of popcorn, we headed towards the seasoning counter for that extra zing.

But a war of gastronomic proportions was already on there. And suddenly, I felt like a judge of the master chef contest. Scores of people balancing tubs of popcorns in their hands were shoving and shouldering each other at the station for that secret ingredient.

The popcorn seasoning!

It came in three flavours - Mexicana Cheese, Sour Cream and Onion and Sweet Chili Barbecue. And that was the real challenge. What’s that magic ratio? Some of our seasoned chefs knew their recipes beforehand and took just a couple of seconds to get it right. 
But the rookies were shaking up a storm, a rather cheesy sour chilli storm, if there was ever such a thing, in a bid to get their taste right.

Image grab source - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1696432447117418

Or so I thought, until I watched or rather sniffed closely.

The recipe is quite simple. 

Step one -  add some seasoning of your choice. 

Step two - add some more of that flavour and other flavours as well. Just in case the movie runs out of masala, you will have your own to enjoy. 

Step three - The last and the financially strategic step. Smother your popcorns with the seasoning such that they become invisible. Don't waste time. Go ahead, screw open the shaker and tip it in your tub in one go.  
Two plusses here. You not only get more popcorn per popcorn for the exorbitant amount you paid for those simple corn kernels but it also gives you a chance to make a small dent in the fortune of the cinema owner who has been conning you for your guilty pleasure!

Image source - https://www.behindwoods.com/news-shots/tamilnadu-news/sathyam-popcorn-to-be-delivered-at-doorstep.html

But the lessons didn’t end here.

Some of our super chefs had an altogether new recipe in mind – the potent masala mix. Just grab a tissue paper and yank out your own proportion. Why spend on popcorn when the whole taste is in the seasoning, and that too for free! 

I left the counter rubbing off the seasoning from my specs, trying to hold my breath before I succumbed to another bout of Mexican chilli sneezing.