Elana Kehoe said:So I figured out why my chili last week was so...powerful. US chili powder is a blend, where the
chili powder here is not...it's just ground chilis.
Hehe... I made that mistake once, too. In some International groceries here, "chili
powder" also refers to straight ground chilies, not a spice blend. Supermarket versions
of chili powder are much, much milder, obviously!
I don't make chili often, and for other recipes calling for chili powder, I get lazy and
just use Penzey's medium hot chili powder blend, which we like.
Quoted message said:Today, I am making chili again (the last batch was inedible, but it kept the cats out of the
trash), but now it seems like there's too darn much cumin in the mix.
The chili powder recipe I used was from webpages.charter.netCA3.htmOpen ↗, and it
calls for 2 T of cumin, 2T of garlic powder, and about 7 dried/toasted chilis. My chili recipe
calls for 2t of cumin. Is this just going to overpower anything else in the recipe? The chili
powder and the cumin are the two biggest amounts of spice (actually, the only spice, save for 2t
of garlic).
It does seem like a lot of cumin, and I rather like the flavor of it. Then again, I
don't really measure consistently on those few occasions I do make chili. It usually
involves minced garlic and onion, a couple pounds ground beef, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp.
oregano, black pepper, and cayenne or ground chipotle (also from Penzey's, very tasty
stuff!), salt to taste. Oh yes, and a can of diced tomatoes, maybe extra tomato
paste/sauce if I feel it needs it.
Ariane
P.S. Chili purists, please spare me the explanations of how this is not real chili. I
already know. ;P