Where to buy a small amount of dried ancho chili?

Hi- I have a pound of ground turkey I bought at Whole Foods, that has been sitting in my freezer for way too long, and I need to use it up. I ran across a recipe for turkey chili in the Nutritious Delicious ATK cookbook that calls for 4 dried ancho chilies. Where is the best place to get a small amount. I would prefer it be in Evanston, Skokie or Wilmette. WF, Jewel, Valli Produce, Trader Joe's, or Spice House would all be ok. Any body know where the best place it? Spice House has it for $5. I would prefer not to pay that much. Thanks, Nancy

Are the anchos going to be ground anyway? If so, just buy the ground ancho at Spice House (or Whole Foods). Otherwise, whole anchos are generally sold prebagged, e.g., at Fresh Farms, Supermercado Chapala, probably Valli too, but that place is so depressing it's been ages since I've looked inside. A whole bag should be less than $5, but not much less.

Food4Less might be worth checking out; they have a relatively large selection of well-priced Hispanic-related goods,

Havent seen dry ancho chiles sold in bulk anywhere, but any Mexican grocery store will have it for about $3. So that'll save you a couple bucks

NFriday wrote:Spice House has it for $5. I would prefer not to pay that much. Thanks, Nancy

Spice House has ground ancho $3.07 for 2.75oz ground and, as you mention, $5.03 for a 4oz bag of whole dried ancho.

Most any Mexican grocery, including newly minted GNR Carniceria Guanajuato #3, will have small bags of ground or whole ancho for around $2. Rogers Park Fruit Market should have it for the same price as Mexican groceries.

As an aside, almost went to Carniceria Guanajuato #3 for a couple of lengua tacos for lunch today. Ended up trying a White Castle Impossible burger instead. Stupid decision on my part.

Rogers Park Fruit Market
7401 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60626

WhyBeeSea wrote:Havent seen dry ancho chiles sold in bulk anywhere, but any Mexican grocery store will have it for about $3. So that'll save you a couple bucks

I have seen them bulk at Marianos in Northbrook ( not recently ) and you don't want to buy them like that. While they are dried chilies - you don't want them to dry. They need to still be soft and pliable. That is why they are sold in plastic bags.

Sunset in Highland Park almost always has them in bags. I don't remember what they cost.

Hi- The recipe calls for whole dried ancho chili, which you then remove the seeds, and cut it up. Apparently some people consider the ground version of it to be bitter. I love the Spice House, and if I knew I would finish the bag, I would spend the $5, but unless I love this recipe and fix it again, I don't know if I would need it again. I have another turkey chili recipe from Jane Brody's Good Food Gourmet that I like and have fixed before, but that one calls for 3 pounds of ground turkey. I could easily cut it in half, but then that means I would have to buy another half pound of ground turkey. Maybe I will go that route instead. For that recipe I would have to buy some fresh jalapenos and the half a pound of ground turkey, but I have all the rest of the ingredients I need for it.

They definitely have them in bulk at Whole Foods (at least, the one on Belmont at Ashland). So you could easily buy the exact number you prefer. Ask for help if you can't find them - different stores put them in different sections.

I did not look at the recipe closely enough. The recipe asks you to remove the seeds from, and cut up the dried ancho chili, but then it tells you to put it in a food processor along with the other spices to make homemade chili powder.

I just decided to fix the turkey chili out of Jane Brody's cookbook. It calls for two cans of kidney beans, and I have two cans they need to be used up. I went to Menard's this afternoon, and since it was kind of on my way home, I decided to stop at Mariano's to see if I can get a half pound of 93% fat free ground turkey. All the butcher had was ground turkey breast. I finally ended up stopping at Jewel on Howard, and I got a pound of the Jenny O ground turkey, and I'll just end up freezing the half a pound that I don't need right now. Thanks, Nancy

I've seen ancho chili powder at most of the local spice markets, and you can sometimes find it in with the Mexican spices if your store has that section - Plum Market does, for instance.