Chili Powder II
This homemade chili powder lets you choose your own heat by mixing dried chilies, from mild ancho and pasilla to medium cascabel and fiery chiltepin. Toasting the whole spices briefly in a dry skillet wakes up their aroma before grinding, which jarred blends rarely match. The result is a pantry staple you can tune for chili, rubs or stews, and adjust each time you make a new batch.
Instructions
Put on protective gloves and break the dried chilies into small pieces. Shake out the seeds, or leave them in if you want a hotter powder with a slightly bitter edge.
Toast the chilies, cumin seed, coriander seed and cloves or allspice in a dry skillet over low heat. Stir constantly until you can smell the chilies, which takes about 2 minutes. If the skillet is small or you are using a lot of chilies, toast in more than one batch.
Let the toasted spices cool completely. Tip them into a food processor or blender with the paprika, oregano and cayenne, and grind to a fine powder.
Wait until the powder has settled before you lift the lid, since the dust is sharp enough to make you cough. Store the chili powder in an airtight jar.
Make it personal.
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