Easy Punjabi-Style Chickpea and Potatoes

I came up with this when I was in the mood for spicy potatoes, and immediately thought of my favorite side dish at the Jackson Diner buffet. This is a great sidedish but I also like it as a main meal too, with some rice or naan. Green peas would work in this recipe too, either as a third main ingredient or to replace the chickpeas, but I love the richness of the chickpeas and couldn't get over not only how close it was to Indian restaurant quality, but also how simple and quick it was to make! By accident better yet! You'll find it hard to believe it's homemade and from canned food better yet. The taste is very hot and spicy, and what I love the most is the way the kick sneaks up on you after a minute! :) Important note-- I created this dish by accident so I just ballparked the spices before tweaking measurements. This yields about 4 cups (I'd have about a 2-cup serving with one more leftover for the next day), so if you're planning on a potluck, larger amount to cook for your family, OAWC/OAMC, etc. you might want to use the multiplier on here to figure out the correct proportions for the ingredients.

• Ready In: 15 mins
• Serves: 2
• Yields: 4 cups

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) can  diced new potatoes
• 1 (16 ounce) can chickpeas
• 1⁄4 cup canola oil
• 2  tablespoons garam masala (sometimes I like to up it to 2.5 tbsp)
• 1  tablespoon curry powder (as hot as you'd like, I like it hot)
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons  coriander
• 1  teaspoon cumin
• 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1⁄4 teaspoon paprika

Directions

1. Rinse and drain the chickpeas and potatoes thoroughly.
2. In a saucepan, mix them together with the canola oil so all the pieces are thoroughly coated. I listed 1/4 cup to start with-- but add more if there's not enough to coat the food.
3. Add all the seasonings listed, then mix together until thoroughly blended.
4. Turn on high heat until oil starts bubbling.
5. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes, stir it occasionally to make sure pieces don't get stuck to the bottom of the pot.
6. Remove from the heat element and let sit on a trivet for 5 minutes still covered.
7. Uncover and enjoy! It's like eating samosa filling! Great with naan, a good curry, or as a wonderful side dish/accompaniment to prantha, bhajia, rice and dal, curried vegetables, or mash it up a bit to use for samosa and masala dosa filling.