I want to try a new chili recipe that calls for masa harina. I live near Philadelphia, PA and cannot find it at my local Whole Foods or Acme!

ALDI sells Masa Harina.

You can substitute cornmeal for masa harina or you can go online and order masa.

susanne - i just realized you must be about to make the chili recipe i suggested. GOOD LUCK! hope you like it. here is the michael chiarello recipe that inspired it. perhaps you will want to add back in some of the things i omitted or changed.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/chiarello-chocolate-chili-con-carne-recipe/index.html

my whole foods carries the the "bobs red mill" brand.
pretty sure it's with the oats and grains and cereals to cook, not necessarily the flour. good luck! otherwise, maybe order online.
here: http://www.amazon.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-Harina-24-ounces/dp/B001HTIT9C

You could also take a page from this recipe, which uses finely crushed regular old tortilla chips to thicken chili!

http://www.food52.com/recipes/7880_short_rib_chili

Susanne, check out one of the Mexican groceries in the Italian Market on 9th St -- they definitely carry Masa Harina. Try Tortilleria San Roman (where fresh hot tortillas are $2 a kilo!) -- if they don't have it they can certainly tell you where to go.

In a pinch, you can use packaged corn tortillas (ripped/ground up into tiny pieces) in place of masa harina. The toritillas are made from masa harina and water. I think the 1TB of masa in the recipe is meant to be a thickener, so you should be ok using tortillas.

Look with the Mexican foods, and look with the baking supplies. Also, I think my WFM has it in the bulk bins.

If you can't find it in the Mexican aisle of your local supermarket and you don't have a Mexican grocery store nearby, you can substitute an equal amount of fine corn meal. Not much difference between the two in that application -- but if you purchase the masa, you can make tortillas to serve with the chili.

Try any grocery catering to the Hispanic community. Also, Whole Foods definitely carries it. (Masa harina is basically finely ground cornmeal; it's not quite the same as the plain stuff, but if you're not making tortillas, you can probably substitute fine cornmeal.)