Spice – cut chili powder with Paprika

paprikaspicessubstitutions

I live in Africa, but cook with US recipes often. I have found that the locally available chili powder is MUCH more intense than it is in the US. So much so that making a custom taco seasoning yielded some near-inedible heat. For the moment I have solved this by bringing in chili powder in bulk. For many reasons, this is not ideal.

I have heard that one can mix in Paprika (being a milder chili powder) in order to cut down the intensity. Does anyone have experience with this? Do I just need to experiment with various 1/2-1/2, 1/4-3/4 ratios in an effort to find a suitable level of intensity? Any thoughts on how to do this without going through the process of cooking an entire dish?

Best Answer

This recipe list chili powder as:

  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste (optional)

There are other mixtures, but this one seem basic enough. The "heat" comes from the cayenne pepper. The other spices round out the flavor.

So I'd mix everything but the cayenne pepper and use that mixture to cut your present chili powder.

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