Correct, very ambiguous. For me, chilies are serious business and a big part of my success. There is a whole other world outside of store bought "chili powder".
If you are talking Mexican chorizo that is a fresh sausage: https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/chorizo-mexican
Calls for both paprika and cayenne. Ancho in place of the paprika would work well. That said, I would use New Mexixo red chile in place of both and predict it would be better. These other chiles we are talking about bring more to the party than just color (paprika) and heat (cayenne). Actually after just typing that out, making chrorizo with NM red sounds CRAZY good and I will have to make some.
If you are talking Mexican chorizo that is a fresh sausage: https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/chorizo-mexican
Calls for both paprika and cayenne. Ancho in place of the paprika would work well. That said, I would use New Mexixo red chile in place of both and predict it would be better. These other chiles we are talking about bring more to the party than just color (paprika) and heat (cayenne). Actually after just typing that out, making chrorizo with NM red sounds CRAZY good and I will have to make some.