Recipe: Real Chili (Chilli) Powder

• 3 parts dried Ancho chillis (whole)
• 1 part dried New Mexico chilis (whole)
• 1 part dried Guajillo chiles (whole)
• 1 part dried Pasilla chillies (whole)
• 1 part whatever other dried chiles you have (whole)

Place your whole chiles onto a cooking sheet and bake at low temperature (around 100 degrees Celsius) until they dry out a bit, about 20-30 minutes.

Put on some latex gloves to protect your hands.

Now in a large bowl, crumble the chillis to remove seeds and stems.  Some of the peppers may be difficult to tear.  Gather up all the pieces of dark flesh (sans seeds and veins) and put back on the baking sheet.  Toast these pieces another 30 minutes.  Make sure they do not blacken or burn, you’re just roasting them a little.

Pull them out and let them cool.  They should now be mostly crumbly.  The thicker ancho chiles may be a little pliable still, but that’s ok.

In a coffee grinder (that you will NEVER EVER use for coffee again, so think about it, but it’s great to have a spice grinder!) or blender blend up the chunks of cooled, toasted chiles until you have a nice dark powder.

Seal tightly and refrigerate.  The Sydney house moth loves this stuff, so seal it well.

p.s. all these chillis available at www.montereyfoods.com.au