Chickpeas & Potatoes in a Tangy Tomato Sauce

Curry in a hurry!
Once in a blue moon I guess we are allowed one 'canned' sin! I commited mine yesterday...I had a sprained neck and it took great effort to just hold my head on my shoulders! I was in pain and no position soothed me. I knew I could not bear to stand in the kitchen and cook a meal. So, with a comforting voice in my head that said 'it's OK, you can do it this time', I went down to the supermarket and tossed in three cans into my basket and walked back home in relief. Well, so the three cans were the key to my 'easy peasy lunch plan' - canned chickpeas, canned potatoes and canned crushed tomatoes :) I know, I know, my mum or my mum-in-law will probably go tsk, tsk when they read this, but I had a reason! Anyways, although I'm a huge fan of fresh cooking, I still think it's alright to use tinned/canned ingredients. Especially if they are unavailable in certain seasons and of course, if it means it saves time :)

Anyways, so I set out on making lunch and I had it all ready in 15 minutes flat! Hot rice and curry ready for M's lunch.

Here's what I did -

1 can chickpeas (kabul chana)
1 can baby potatoes
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 large onion
2 tbspns ginger garlic paste
1/2 tspn jeera (cumin)
dry masala powders - dhania (coriander) powder, jeera (cumin) powder, turmeric, garam masala powder, red chilli powder - according to taste
2 tbspns ghee (clarified butter)
a pinch of hing (asafotieda)
salt to taste

Chop the onion.

Prepare the potatoes as per instructions on the can and dice them.

Drain the chickpeas and keep aside with the potatoes.

Heat ghee in a pot and add jeera and hing.

Next add chopped onion and saute till soft. Then add ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw smell disappears.

Pour in the crushed tomatoes from the can and add in all the dry masalas and cook for about 5 mins.

Add salt to taste and a pinch of sugar to balance the sourness in the tomatoes.

Bring to a light simmer and tip in the chickpeas and potatoes and let simmer for another 5 mins.

All done! You can garnish it with some fresh coriander if you wish. Serve hot with rice.

Of course, if you are using fresh ingredients, you'll need to soak the chickpeas for atleast 6 hours and pressure cook it with potatoes. As a variation, you could also put in boiled eggs instead and make a tangy egg curry.

And finally, thought I'd just let you know that I chose this option over 'heat & serve' Dal Makhani...so, I did make the better choice, what say you? ;-)