Grinding dried chiles in a mortar and pestle? I purchased some dried chile peppers from a local market thinking that I might be able to grind them up in a mortar and pestle. That completely failed - the peppers didn't grind at all, and instead mushed up.

Is there any way to grind peppers in a mortar and pestle, or is that purely a job for a blender?

Thanks!
That sort of grinding only works with seeds and such.  Chiles are too fibrous.  I use a cuisinart mini mate chopper/grinder for all my spice milling needs.  There's a dull side to the blade for grinding stuff like peppercorns, and a sharp side for stuff like chiles.  About the only thing my mortar and pestle ever gets used for is grinding kosher salt to a more useful grain size.