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How to Make Chili Powder by Eleanor Bradshaw Recipe

Ingredients

How to make it

  • Put the chilies in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 4 or 5 minutes. Remove the pan and check the chilies (they cool almost immediately). The smaller chilies will be toasted first, so remove them and set aside. Bake the larger pieces another 4 minutes and check again. The poblanos will be done last, but as portions of them toast, break them off and set aside returning the pan to the oven if necessary. When all chilies are toasted and crispy, break each piece into two or three pieces and place in a blender. Pulse briefly until you have powder.
  • Toast the cumin seeds by placing them in a dry skillet over medium heat. Stir the seeds constantly being very careful not to let them scorch. When they are a few shades darker than the un-toasted seeds, they are ready. Grind the toasted seeds with a mortar and pestle or with a rolling pin between two sheets of waxed paper.
  • Add the ground cumin, garlic powder and oregano to the ground chilies in the blender. Pulse a few more times to thoroughly mix the powder, and you're through. You should have about 1 cup of chili powder, depending upon the size of your chilies.
  • You have created your own custom blend of chili powder. If you compare what you have just made with the store-bought variety, you will find it to be much darker in color with a deeper, richer aroma and taste. Naturally, you will want to test your creation any good recipe that relies heavily on chili powder will work.
  • This recipe makes very good chili powder, but is by no measure written in stone. The chilies and other ingredients can be varied according to your taste. To add the smoky heat of chipoltes (smoked jalapenos), for instance, substitute a chipolte for one of the chilies de arbol. Or better yet, toast some chipoltes and make a pure chipolte powder from them. A teaspoon of chipolte powder is the rough equivalent of one chipolte Chile. Store your chili powder in a small, airtight container like a glass jar with a lid that can be tightened. If you make more chili powder than you will be using in the immediate future, triple bag it in plastic bags and put it in the freezer.
  • With this knowledge, you are limited only by your imagination and your taste.

Reviews & Comments 3

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  • ttaaccoo 14 years ago
    Thank you!! The food co-op in Silver City, NM has the best chile powder for me!
    This recipe is a true gift, thank you. just cannot live w/o chile powder.
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  • lovebreezy 14 years ago
    Informative recipe.
    Was this review helpful? Yes Flag
    " It was excellent "
    tablescape ate it and said...
    i love this as a base recipe. So many ways you can go with this one. Thanks.
    Was this review helpful? Yes Flag

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twill10 Cape Girardeau, MO

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