Can I cut chili powder with Paprika?
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?
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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.
I think your approach is the right one. Chili has flavor, not just heat, so simply reducing the chili added will reduce the flavor and the heat. Using a mild chili powder like paprika will keep the chili flavor there while reducing the chili heat. African chili powder is generally very hot stuff, so I'd try a 7:1 ratio of paprika to african chili powder and work your way up.
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