Guajillo chili powder

Ingredients

1 oz dried Guajillo, New Mexican, California or Pasilla chile pods
1 Tsp or to taste whole cumin seed

Method

Remove the stems and seeds from the chiles. Perfume the chiles and cumin by heating them in a heavy skillet over a medium flame. DO NOT ALLOW CHILES TO CHAR! Burned chiles can become exceedingly bitter tasting.

Transfer the chiles and cumin seed to a coffee grinder. It may be necessary to tear the chiles into pieces, so as to fit them into the grinder's compartment. Process the mixture into a very fine powder.

note

To significantly ratchet the heat level, add 5 chile de Arbol pods, de-stemmed, de-seeded and perfumed into the grind.