Chili powder
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chili powder (also called chili mix) is a spice mix consisting of various ratios of dried ground chile peppers, cumin, garlic, and oregano. The ground chile peppers may be exclusively hot ones such as cayenne or (rarely) just mild ones like paprika, but are usually a mixture of types to give the desired balance between heat and chile flavor. As the name suggests, chili powder is used to spice chili as well as many other dishes.
The origins of the chilli powder can be traced to Indian cuisine, where it used extensively in making curries and other dishes. Apart from India, chilli powder as described above is widely used in Mexican cuisine as well.
Many people make their own chili powder, and many versions are available commercially. In addition to the main ingredients above, small amounts of any of a number of other powdered spices may be added to the mix including cinnamon, cloves, coriander, mace, nutmeg, turmeric and even black pepper.
There is some disagreement about the origin of manufactured chili powder. The two men generally credited with marketing the first commercial chili powder blends in USA were William Gebhardt and D.C. Pendry. However chilli powder was handed down as a family recipe, as were the recipe for other spices and condiments, in India for a number of centuries.
Pendry ran a Mexican grocery supply company in Ft. Worth, Texas. He began manufacturing and marketing his blend of chili powder in about 1890, encouraging its use by people who were unfamiliar with it by supplying recipes to restaurants in the area.
Gebhardt was a German immigrant to New Braunfels, Texas. He served chili in his café, flavored with his own blend of chili powder. He starting selling the blend in about 1894 under the brand name Gebhardt's Eagle Brand Chili Powder.
Chili powder is often confused with the similar-sounding chile powder (an ingredient of chili powder), which is simply dried and pulverized hot chile peppers, the fruit of any of a number of hot varieties of the Capsicum plant of the nightshade family (Solanaceae). In cooking, a heaping teaspoon-full of chile powder is an equivalent substitute for one "average" chile.
An acceptable chili powder mix is:
- cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon
- paprika or other milder powdered chile, 1 tablespoon
- ground cumin, 2 tablespoon
- oregano, 1 tablespoon
- garlic powder, 2 tablespoon
- smaller quantities of any or all of the other spices mentioned above
Yield: approx. 1/2 cup
Home made chili powder might be produced by using a quantity of dried chiles (either of one type or several). These chiles are disassembled and placed in a heated, dry skillet for a brief period of time in order to better activate the oils. After this, either a blender or mortar and pestle are used to render the dried chiles into a powder. The flavors of the ingredients are typically much better than those found in pre-made powders.
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