What spices go with popcorn

Smoked paprika on popcorn is close to a default, and it works because paprika is fine enough to stick to a buttered surface and because smokiness is exactly what a plain starch lacks. The colour is part of the appeal.

How: Tossed through hot buttered popcorn; With salt and a little sugar

Add alongside: Salt, Cayenne pepper, Garlic

• Toss it through while the popcorn is hot and freshly buttered; on cold dry popcorn it falls straight to the bottom of the bowl.

Heat on a bland starch is a reliable pairing and popcorn takes a surprising amount of it, because there is nothing else competing and each piece carries very little. Cayenne is fine-ground enough to distribute evenly, which coarser chilli cannot.

How: With salt and lime on Mexican-style popcorn; In a spiced butter poured over

Add alongside: Salt, Paprika, Lemon

The Indian answer to seasoned popcorn, and a good one: chaat masala is a finishing blend built to be sprinkled on dry fried things, which is precisely what popcorn is. The sourness does what butter and salt alone cannot.

How: Sprinkled over hot buttered popcorn; With a squeeze of lime

Add alongside: Lemon, Salt, Cayenne pepper

Used for colour as much as flavour, and it is one of the few applications where turmeric on its own is not bitter — the fat and salt carry it, and the quantity per piece is tiny. It is the base of most yellow seasoned popcorns.

How: Bloomed in the butter before pouring over; With cumin and salt as a savoury mix

Add alongside: Salt, Cumin, Paprika