Most people I know really enjoy a hot bowl of home made chili con carne ... if it is well made. I believe most of we gringos pretty much use only commercial brands of chili powder that are relatively mild, the idea being that the home cook or the person eating the chili con carne can add hot seasoning ingredients like freshly cut hot peppers, tabasco sauce, red pepper flakes or sriracha sauce as desired. While this approach works to a limited extent, I've always wondered how to use the packages of many types of dried peppers found in ethnic food stores and on the Internet, and now also in better supermarkets. I also wondered about what taste variations would happen by using different types of chile peppers in combination.

Curiosity finally led to me buying bags of different types of peppers based on their flavor variations and Scovill heat index values ... for the best complex flavors result from using multiple types of dried chile peppers, and the heat level is a matter of the ratio of each type of pepper put into the mixture.

If you buy or grow your own fresh peppers the processing steps start with cutting off the stems and slitting each pepper in half lengthwise. Then the membrane and seeds are scraped out and discarded. After those steps you still need to dehydrate the pepper halves, which can be done with a home dehydrator or by using a convection oven set no higher than 175 degrees F. The time required to dehydrate fresh pepper halves will depend on your choice of method and pepper size and thickness, and can easily vary from four to eight hours.

If you start with dried chile peppers you will likely still have to cut off the stems, slit the peppers in half lengthwise, then scrape out and discard all the seeds and any large membrane pieces present.

Note that heating the dried peppers brings out the natural oils which enhances the flavor of the final product, so in the directions below you will see two different methods to do that. I used the oven approach and it worked very quickly starting with dried chile peppers. In my case one of the pepper types (Ancho) was not completely dried so I accomplished both drying and heating to enhance flavors in one step.

I need mention that I had purchased additional types of dried chile peppers, some with higher Scovill heat ratings (10,000 to 30,000) and some insufficiently identified as to type (from India) that I was reluctant to use. Thus, I simply reserved those peppers for some future experiments. I suggest you use the Internet to find and review a table of Scovill heat ratings for the various types of chile peppers. Heat afficianados will want to try some really hot varieties ... like habanero or Carolina reaper peppers ... along with some milder peppers for heat balance.

The chili powder resulting from using the recipe below was/is fabulous! I couldn't wait to try it so I made chili con carne using the Food Nirvana recipe and using five tablespoons of the new chili powder. The results were stunningly good, as attested to by my sweetheart Peggy. She had multiple servings and simply loved the new flavors. I did too. The overall point is that I am done buying any brand of supermarket chili powder, for I now have complete control of flavor and heat mixtures. Obviously the variations for heat and flavor combinations are almost limitless.

This recipe makes a chili powder with a light kick in the heat department that will not turn off folks who dislike hot foods. All they have to do is eat a few bites and they will be hooked. So will you, and that is a promise! Why? Well, because the very taste of the pepper combination is quite different from and far more delicious than any supermarket chili powder.

I have one final aspect to mention. Having made a relatively mild chili powder you can always amp it up in the heat department by simply adding powdered hot chile peppers of any of many varieties to your chili con carne in the amount you prefer during cooking. Thus, the base chili powder you make using this recipe has all the necessary ingredients combined, and you later vary the heat by adding powder of other chile pepper types to your chili while it is cooking. In a nutshell, you can process chile peppers independently by type, creating powdered versions, which you store in well sealed small canning jars.

Ingredients: (Makes 1 to 2 cups of chili powder)

4 ounces of dried red chile peppers in a 4:2:1 ratio by weight, after cleaning out stems, seeds and excess membranes, as follows:

Dried Ancho chiles (Scovill 1000-1500)

Dried Guajillo chiles (Scovill 3000-5000)

Dried Chile Puya chiles (Scovill 8000-10,000)

3 tablespoons of whole cumin seeds (or 1 1/2 tbsp. of ground cumin)

2 tablespoons of garlic powder

1 1/2 tablespoons of dried oregano

2 teaspoons of coriander seeds (or 1 tsp. of ground coriander)

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

3 whole cloves (or 1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves)

2 allspice berries (or 1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice)

Directions:

Select the chiles from their individual packages in the right ratio by weight and also weigh them as a group, continuing to add more peppers until the weight is somewhat more than 4 ounces (like around 5 ounces, making an allowance for what will later be discarded as stems, seeds and excess membranes).

Cut off the stems from the dried chilies, cut the chiles in half lengthwise, then scrape out and discard the seeds and membranes. Use a kitchen scale to weigh the group of chile halves/pieces after cleaning them. That assures you will be starting with the final proper weight of 4 ounces of dried chile peppers. Clean additional chiles as needed to get the proper weight.

Completely dry the dried chile pepper halves/pieces on a 12" by 17" baking sheet for one hour in a 175 degrees F convection oven. That will make them fairly brittle and easier to process. Similarly, heat the other recipe ingredients in a bowl separately for half an hour in the oven. I strongly recommend using this method because it is foolproof. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the pepper halves/pieces to cool to room temperature.

Alternatively you can heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and place the chiles in the skillet in a single layer so they're not overlapping. Roast on both sides just until fragrant (a few minutes) being very careful not to scorch them or they will taste bitter. Remove them and let them cool. Repeat the process until all chiles have been roasted. Then break up the brittle peppers into large pieces and tear any that are not brittle into large pieces. That will hasten the pending grinding process. Place the whole spices (but not the powdered ones) into the pan, spread them around and roast them until they are very fragrant, being careful not to scorch them (a few minutes). Remove them and let them cool completely.

Once the chiles and spices are completely cooled, the chiles should be partially crushed using a one gallon Ziploc® freezer bag and a kitchen mallet. That breaks up the dried chiles, which will make them much easier to process in a blender. Place all of the ingredients into a 2 quart blender and use the pulse operation until the contents are a uniform powder. If necessary, use a blunt tool to further crush the pepper pieces in the blender (with the blender turned off!) to promote good mixing. This should take about one or two minutes of blending time depending on the quality of your blender. Transfer the completed chili powder to an air tight jar for storage and, for the very best flavor, use the powder within a month.

Will the amount of chile powder you made last a month? Good question ... but if you feed guests as well as family you will be making more quite soon.

Enjoy!