Red chilis like cayenne that are dried and then ground to powder. Here's one recipe but you'll find many others on the internet too. Check out the Hot Peppers forum here for many other recipes for chili powder too. Homemade Chili Powder Ingredients * 6 dried red peppers * 6 dried arbol chili peppers * 3 dried chipotle chilies * 1 1/2 tbsp. cumin seeds * 1 tbsp. garlic powder * 2 tbsp. oregano Alter the Chili Powder Spiciness This recipe is going to get us a very hot chili powder, so if you'd like something milder replace the red chili peppers with the ancho or mulato chili peppers. And remember to wash your hands after handling the peppers because they are very hot and if you get them in your eyes or mouth it will really hurt. Prepare the Chili Peppers First you'll need to prepare the peppers. Do this by cutting off the stem, slicing the peppers in half, and scraping out all of the seeds. You'll want to remove the seeds and stems because they are the spiciest parts of the pepper, and they won't grind very well. Toast the Chili Seasoning Now toast the cumin and the pepper in a pan on low heat for about 5 minutes. Let everything cool completely after 5 minutes for 1 minute. Grind the Chili Powder Now put the roasted ingredients, the garlic powder, and oregano in a spice mill or blender and grind the ingredients together until they form a fine powder. Now this delicious blend of spices is ready to be used in stews, chilies, beans, and other dishes that could stand a good kick in the pants. Dave

Hello cannond, OK, first of all, the "dried" chilies is a serious typo. The recipe is in error when calling for dried chilies. It directs the reader to roast peel and seed 1 pound of Pasillas (aka Poblano, dried form is Ancho... authentic dried Pasillas are actually sold as "Chiles Negros") and simmer them in half a cup of lime juice. Since Pasillas are fairly mild, that is why the recipe calls for 1 1/2 tbs of chili flakes. This is then added to the Mango Preserves recipe, which calls for 1/2 cup of bottled lemon juice. After reviewing the National Center for Home Food Preservation's website, I found a recipe for Mango Sauce that calls for 5 to 6 pounds of under-ripe to just-ripe mangoes, 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice, and 2 1/2 teaspoons ascorbic acid. Judging by this recipe from NCHFP, the Chili Mango Preserves recipe is safe, but it should be noted that the 2006 Joy of Cooking (which added the preserving and canning chapters back in) has omitted all ripe mango canning recipes and guidelines for the low-acidity concerns other posters have mentioned (green ones are still present). I'm glad you abandoned the recipe after trying to char the dried chiles! That would have been an expensive mistake. As for the Peach Conserve recipe's "trick" for peeling peaches, I don't think the recipe's trying to say that wiping peaches with a damp cloth is going to peel them, just that you can include the peel in the conserve and discard the fuzz. Did wiping them not remove the fuzz? or were you expecting the peel to come off? Regardless, this bit of wisdom was cut from the 2006 as well: all peach recipes call for blanching and peeling. Sorry for the trouble with this book... we've still recovering from the 1997 edition, the companion "All About" series, and the damage it has done to our reputation. As you can see, we try to get in touch with forum posters who have troubles like this, and we are always willing to look into recipes that just plain don't work. The 75th Anniversary edition, published in 2006, was thoroughly vetted and updated by Elizabeth Andress, director of the NCHFP (homefoodpreservation.com), and contains a wealth of material not found in the "All About Canning and Preserving" book. Again, I apologize for any inconvenience the recipe in question may have caused you. Best John Becker www.thejoykitchen.com Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP recipe for Mango Sauce

You have to be careful because the "chili powder" that is ubiquitous in the grocery is for making a pot of chili, so it usually contains oregano and maybe cumin and garlic and whatever (there are different brands, I make my own so I'm not a good one to say). But anyway, then there's "powdered chilis" which as Jim says, could be numerous kinds of chili. The common ones I have on hand are ground ancho chilis (which is what they use in mild chili powder), ground cayenne, ground chipotle, and those hot chili flakes which I can't remember what kind they are, probably cayenne. You can buy other special chilis as specialty spice shops (like Penzeys) for Thai and Indian recipes. I hardly ever make them and don't like the real hot stuff, so cayenne in small doses and those chili pepper flakes does it for me with those cuisines.

Did you check the produce section in WMT for the whole dried chiles? (I can get them at my WMT in central Wisconsin.) Are there any Hispanic food stores in your area? I found an interesting variety of dried chiles at a small Mexican food store in Wausau. I know the frustration in trying to find foods/ brands that you're used to. Relocated to WI from western Oklahoma. No okra, no Williams Chili Seasoning, no raggedy ripe canned peaches, no Stillwell frozen blackberry cobblers, Shawnee Mills pancake mix.... And, worst of all, no Braum's ice cream stores (German Chocolate ice cream and wonderful burgers.) My dad made chili in his restaurant using Williams chili seasoning but he always added more herbs & stuff to it. Just like you have been doing using the Tone's chili powder which is a blend of ground chiles, cumin, etc. From Fine Cooking: The terms “chili” and “chile” are often used interchangeably across North America, but they don’t always mean the same thing. Chili powder is usually a blend of ground chile pods and other spices like cumin, peppercorn, and salt. Chile powder most often refers to pure ground chile pods with few or no additives; the only way to tell is to read the ingredient label. For most dishes I prefer pure ground chile powder, as it allows me to blend (or not blend) it with the particular spices I want for each dish. 'Chili powder' (the blended product) has been around a very long time. Some of the old brands still in existence (Gebhardt's and Pendery's) were making a blended chili powder way back in the late 1800's. I'm betting that your great aunt was using a blended chili powder product.