Up vitamin C, control sodium, and turn on flavor in your next batch of chili. Poblano peppers are key in this chili; use other peppers to up the "heat.
Today's store-bought chili powders have improved, but their flavor still can't beat the aroma of freshly roasted peppers! What's more, making your own gives you a chance to lower salt content, and turn up vitamin C.
Store-bought Chili Powder: Salt, MSG, Vitamins
Three tablespoons of store-bought chili powder, the amount it takes to flavor a pot, generally contain only from eighteen to thirty-six percent of the Minimum Daily Requirement (MDR) of sodium, while a teaspoon of table salt has slightly more than the average adult's MDR.
But, because the fresh peppers are, well, fresher, homemade chili will provide you with much more vitamin C than the store-bought seasoning can provide (unless of course you add lots of tomatoes to the latter; vitamin C is almost completely destroyed in the traditional drying process).
Alas, if you buy a packaged chili mix (not just a jar of spice), three tablespoons of chili powder might contain up to sixty or even ninety percent of the MDR of sodium. Also, according to information at food renegade.com, the word "spices" may be used to hide MSG.
Chili Ingredients
Chili peppers are the essence of chili. Other chili spices include cumin and oregano, probably cilantro, and some garlic or onion. Some Mexican cooks also like coriander (which comes from coriander seeds; cilantro also comes from coriander). I personally like to add a bit of cinnamon, especially if I am making chili with beans. Besides the peppers and spices, you'll need of course a bit of olive oil for cooking.
Peppers, which may help the body fight cancer, as noted are the key in chili, and really nothing but these, the garlic and onion, and perhaps the cilantro need be fresh in this cook's opinion. If you want to go all out however, you can also use fresh oregano, dry-cook any coriander used, and even grind up your own cumin seeds. Doing so will take a bit longer but for some this is worth the trouble.
The Peppers
Some chili peppers originate in Asia, some in the Americas. The chili recipe below uses chilis from the Americas.
Just as every true Latin cook has his or her own recipe for mole sauce, Tex-Mex cooks have their own favorite blends of chili peppers. So, as you get an idea of the range of flavors the various chili peppers can provide, feel free to experiment a bit. Meanwhile, along with information about various chili peppers, here's a recipe that uses a combination of poblano, jalapeno, serrano, and chile de arbol peppers, with a bit of paprika, and perhaps some anaheim or habanero.
Poblanos. Perhaps "the soul" of chili, these large, dark green peppers have a warm and flavorful taste. Chili (the stew) and chili powder are almost always made with some poblano peppers. Dried poblanos are called anchos. This cook considers the poblano pepper the one absolutely essential ingredient in chili, but some people prefer the New Mexico (Anaheim) pepper (which is much lighter in color). So try using two poblano peppers or one poblano pepper and one anaheim (New Mexico) chile to flavor your pot of chili. Anaheim chilis are not reviewed here, but these are one of the more commonly available fresh peppers.
Jalapenos. Plump, somewhat smaller and lighter-colored than poblanos, dried and smoked jalapenos are used to make chipotle chili. Roasting jalapenos will give them a similar flavor to chipotle. Use one jalapeno pepper.
Serranos. These are a bit thinner, and hotter generally than the jalapeno, depending on the soil each is grown in, and perhaps not quite so flavorful, but these do have flavor. Though less popular with persons not of Latino origin than jalapenos, serranos are a staple in Mexican cooking, and can give a recipe a more "authentic": taste. Use one serrano pepper.
Habaneros. Almost rounded and generally red when sold, these are the hottest of the Mexican chilis, and if you eat too many of these, you risk turning out "enchilada" (a person who has over-consumed chili peppers). The cure for this is lime and salt, so if you add a habanero, you'll need to add some lime and salt as well. Also, a bit of carrot helps mellow the flavor of the habanero pepper (if you examine the ingredients in commercially-sold habanero sauces you'll see these often include carrot juice). Optionally use one habanero pepper, but, if you do make sure to add both carrot and lime or lemon to your chili.
Chiles de Arbol. Usually you find these dried, but you can roast a dried chile de arbol with the other peppers. Use one to add a bit of "heat."
Pimiento Peppers and Paprika. These peppers are sweet rather than hot. Paprika is actually made from pimiento peppers. Use one pimiento pepper, or a half teaspoon of dried paprika.
Preparation
Wash, trim the ends of the peppers, and remove the core and seeds. Cut the peppers into strips. (I cut the larger poblano peppers into proportionally larger strips, but note that bigger strips of pepper take longer to roast!). Brush them with oil (olive, grapeseed, or sunflower will do nicely with the peppers), as this brings out the flavor and helps it to last: a good quality oil acts as a preservative.
Finally, place the peppers on some foil or on a broiling rack, and roast them at 425 degrees for about seven-to-ten minutes on each side. When one side is roasted, turn it and roast the other. The peppers' skins should become soft and blistered. Charring in a few places is o.k. but the peppers should not be overly charred. Three or four cloves of garlic can be brushed with oil and roasted with the peppers.
Alternately, slow-roast the peppers in an iron skillet (vent the lid to keep the peppers from becoming too "soggy") over a fire with damp mesquite chips.
Other spices
Cumin. Cumin is an iron-rich spice and supposedly good for the stomach. Dried cumin suits me fine, but some cooks suggest grinding up your own cumin seeds. Anywhere from half to three-fourths a teaspoon will flavor your chili nicely.
Cinnamon. Cinnamon can add a "warm" taste to chili or chili beans. If you think you'd like cinnamon, try using between a quarter and a half teaspoon of cinnamon per pot of chili. Alternately, if you cook chili beans yourself, you can add one cinnamon stick to the cooking liquid.
Oregano. It's similar to marjoram but not the same. Look carefully when you buy it as marjoram may be mislabeled as oregano. Both are members of the mint family. Oregano, like thyme (another mint family member), contains thymol, which has excellent anti-microbial properties. Use about two teaspoons of fresh oregano or three-fourth teaspoon of dried oregano.
Cilantro. Cilantro is related to the Central American/Caribbean spice "culantro," which is not so well known in the U.S. as cilantro. Cilantro, although slightly different from native culantro, is often used today in Mexican cuisine. Again it's supposedly good for the stomach. Add a tablespoon of dried cilantro leaves to your spice mix. If you use fresh cilantro, stir in two tablespoons of minced cilantro leaves when your chili is cooked.
Coriander. Coriander is more commonly used in Indian and Middle Eastern than in Mexican cuisine. It's related to cilantro. Coriander seeds unlike fresh cilantro cook well. Some cooks dry-fry or roast then crush the fresh seeds. Use no more than a half teaspoon of dried coriander.
Making the Chili Base
Mince the roasted peppers. Reserve a few to add when the chili is nearly cooked. Now heat the cumin and other spices (fresh cilantro excepted) in a few teaspoons of olive oil. Add the remaining minced peppers, the garlic, and remove from the heat, then add a little vinegar or beer. Mash everything to make a thick paste (sort of like making your own mole sauce for your chili but not quite so much work as a mole sauce).
More
Once you've got the thick paste, you may want to add a few other things to your chili. Try adding a half or whole sweet onion . Slice it and and sautee it in the sauce and meat. Onion is one of the more essential chili ingredients.
Many cooks like to add a half or even a whole bell pepper, sliced and sauteed with the onion and sauce. Tip: to keep the pepper slices firm, add the bell pepper after the onion starts to soften. Then, when the pepper starts to get tender but is still green, remove these from the sauce. When the chili is nearly cooked, float the sliced peppers on top.
If you are using habanero peppers, and even if you are not, you might add a small carrot, diced or shredded. Sautee the carrot with the onion in the mole sauce of course.
Some cooks also add a blanched tomato or two, or a small can of tomato paste diluted with just a bit of water or broth (the latter can be made from corn cobs; to make this, per three or four cups of water use one corn cob; boil the corn cob in the water, with a bit of oil, for about twenty minutes). Add tomatoes as the chili cooks (and when beans are fully-cooked).
Salt?
Salt probably can't be avoided by most cooks. With your own chili mix, you've got the control however. Adding any more than half a teaspoon of course will make your chili as salty as if you'd use a commercial mix (but it'll be MSG free and as noted richer in vitamin C).
If using beans, don't add salt to those till after they cook. Don't add salt till after the chili cooks anyway as salt does not improve on the antimicrobial effects of heat in any way and may even lessen the effects of heat. You can also "salt" chili and other soups with kombu. Kombu salts using a balance of minerals (if added to beans as they cook, kombu also makes the beans cook faster).
Likewise, add a squeeze of lime or lemon (if desired) when the chili is cooked (or add it at the table).
Vegan Chili, Chili Beans
Vegetarian cooks might try replacing the beef in chili with kasha (whole granulation). Sautee it lightly first, either dry, or in a bit of oil. Some recommend adding a lightly-beaten egg to the kasha. This keeps the kasha granules from sticking together, making them less cereal-like. Either way, sautee the kasha some more with the onions and chili sauce. If kasha is not for you, try sauteeing some cubed tempeh (tempeh is fermented soybean curd) in the chili sauce, together with the onions of course.
Beans are fine in chili too. Pintos would be my pick (if you tolerate kidney beans, try a mix of pinto and kidney) or the similar Roman beans. You can also use red or pink beans of course (pink beans are a staple in Mexican cuisine).
Recipe Notes
This recipe replaces about three tablespoons of chili powder. Serve your chili with some shredde cheese and toasted corn tortillas, perhaps floating on top, or with sourdough or homemade cornbread, or else over a bed of rice.
Sources
- Chili Pepper Madness. "Types of Chili Peppers: Our Chili Pepper List." (Accessed 2012).
- Latin American Cook. "Cilantro, Our Herb, Our Flavor." (2010/04/18; accessed 2012).
- Miss Vickie.com. "Spice Up Your Cooking With Peppers." (Accessed 2012).
- "Oregano Vs Marjoram: Mint Family Perennial Herbs in Kitchen Garden." B2 Review. (2011/05/01; accessed 2012).
- Ramcharan, Christopher. "Culantro: A Much Utilized, Little Understood Herb." Purdue Univesity Crop Index. Rpt. from Perspectives on New Crops and New Uses: Proceedings of the Fourth National Symposium. Ed. Jules Janick. ASHS Press. (1999; accessed 2012).