Did you know that most “chili”, chile powder that is sold in the spice isle is actually a blend of spices? If you read the label, many times it is not a pure powder. Cumin, salt and other spices may be added. And if you go for the pure chile powder, like ancho, they can be quite expensive for just a few ounces.
Too many chile pods?
For a couple of years now, I have been preparing my own chile powder in small batches. One of my homemade pork chorizo recipes is prepared from freshly toasted and ground chiles and spices. Find the link below. It’s takes a little while to process all of them in my small coffee grinder, but it’s well worth the effort. When I find myself with too many dried chile pods, it’s much easier to toast and grind them into powder form. Easier to store and I can preserve their freshness a lot longer.
The visual is stunning, in my opinion!
There are so many possibilities for using the fresh ground chile pods. The easiest would be to replace your store-bought chili powder with a mix of the fresh. You can customize the heat level this way. Create your own seasoning blends with other spices, such as smoked paprika, garlic, onion, cumin, dried herbs like oregano and cilantro.
You must try this easy enchilada sauce! Find the recipe in the notes section at the end.
A great source online for fried chile pods is Toluca Foods. This is not a sponsored post. They have good quality products! Tell them I sent you!
But how much chile powder?
I was recently asked how much powder would one chile ancho pod yield when ground to a powder form. Good question! Here are the results.
Always store chile pods in an airtight container in a cool dry place.
A dry, hot metal comal (griddle) works quickly for toasting pods.
The fresher the dried chile pods are, the brighter red the powder or sauce will be.
Fresh blended chile powder can be stored in the refrigerator. Blend with boiling water to rehydrate instantly!
Check out my recipes for homemade chorizo using various chile pods and cooking methods.
How To Prepare a Basic Chile Powder
Ingredients
- 3 ounces dried chile ancho pods that is the weight before removing the stems and seeds
- coffee grinder
- comal or griddle
Instructions
- Remove the stems and seeds from the chiles. Place chile pods on a preheated comal(griddle).
- Toast for about 20 to 30 seconds per side. The chiles will become aromatic and you should see a light smoke.
- Never leave them unattended or they can burn and become bitter.
- Tear the chiles into smaller pieces. Place pieces into a coffee grinder and grind in batches until you have a fine powder.
- Three ounces (without the stems and seeds) yields about 6-7 loose tablespoons of powder.
- One average 1 large pod (ancho pepper) yields about 1 1/2 tablespoons of powder.
Notes
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[…] Preparing fresh ground chile powder requires just a small investment, a coffee grinder! I only use mine for spices, nuts and chiles. Click the link to see the easy recipe. In the picture above, the dark chile pasilla powder required 6 dried chiles. For the fiery red toasted chile de arbol, you want to toast the dried chiles on a dry comal(griddle) until they become aromatic and blackened in most spots. I toasted about 20 peppers. Please be aware that when you toast or fry dried chiles that are spicy, make sure you have good ventilation. Otherwise the smoke will make you cough!!! Lol! https://pinaenlacocina.com/how-to-prepare-basic-chile-powder/ […]
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This article has valuable information,most people only use chili powder when preparing chili, and I often got asked what kind of chili’s are in the powder? I knew it consisted of more then one chili, and which kind but I never prepared my own. great information, well worth sharing and as well as trying myself.
Thanks
Ernesto`
I have searched until my eyes hurt to find someone that would share how to use Chile powder in my dishes. Thank you so much. I have Chile powder but do not know how to prepare it to use for like enchiladas and other dishes. So I can season with it and make sauces with it. Could you help me with this please.
On my blog I have recipes for Texas-style enchilada sauce prepared with chile powder. Search Easy Enchilada Sauce. I have recipe for albondigas in adobo. The adobo is prepared with chile powder also. You can rehydrate you chile powders by blending in a blender with water that you boiled, Add other spices, like cumin, garlic, oregano, clove and cinnamon to prepare an adobo for marinating meats. I typically add some vinegar and maybe a dried chile like arbol to make it spicy. Go easy on the clove and cinnamon or they will over power the flavors of everything else.
Wow! What a great idea! You mean I don’t have to fry or boil chiles beforehand for dishes? I can just toast them? This is a wonderful idea! Will the sauce come out the same? Does this mean one would have to put them in a blender, mix them, add whatever spices and then pan fry the whole thing? Then add broth or water? I have bags of chiles in my garage. I keep them as air tight as I can, but sometimes, I find mold gets to them and I have to dump them all!
You would use is as you would any chile powder in recipes. To rehydrate it, you would add about 1/2 c of chile powder to the blender with other spices like garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper… Then you pour in water that was almost ready to boil. Cover and carefully blend, making sure the lid is secure. I just toast the peppers slightly beforehand. Then grind them to a powder. You can fry the paste a bit once to rehydrate and then add your favorite broth.