It sounds like you're talking about corn nuts, which aren't actually nuts, but corn that has been fried in hot oil. These are made with dried white corn kernels, not popcorn kernels (because if you used popcorn it would pop in the hot oil). I've also seen a recipe for making corn nuts with garbanzo beans, which sounds interesting too. I'm not sure if this is what you were thinking of, but that's what comes to mind.