Curried Chickpea Hash with 7-Minute Eggs

This curried chickpea hash with 7-minute eggs is perfect for any time of day.

The recipe for this chickpea breakfast hash came together accidentally. I was sleeping over my sister’s place and woke up unexpectedly early for a Saturday. While Lily continued to sleep, I got a head start on our breakfast.

My sister is what you might call a kitchen minimalist, in that she keeps her kitchen nearly empty. If you looked in her cupboards, you’d find: a jar of everything bagel seasoning (#essential), some long-forgotten spices, and a bottle of brandy from last summer’s sangria attempt. The same goes for her fridge. She re-stocks the same handful of items each week – nothing more, nothing less.

That morning, I gathered up what I could find – a can of chickpeas, some tomatoes, garam masala, and eggs – and decided these would work perfectly as a chickpea breakfast hash. I fried up the chickpeas with some spices, then simmered the whole thing with tomatoes. In the meantime, I also boiled 7-minute eggs and made skillet toast.

Clearly, this chickpea breakfast hash wasn’t meant to be a “blog recipe,” but Lily was so impressed with what I was able to pull off with her minimal ingredient selection, I figured I’d have to share it with you, too. The recipe goes to show you don’t need a ton of fancy ingredients to make something comforting and delicious. The hash calls for just a few pantry staples, but looks and feels so impressive.

A Few Notes…

Garam masala is a classic spice blend made of cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, and cumin. It’s rich, perfume-y, and warming, and you’ll find lots of other ways to use it up (like this easy chana masala). It’s not the same as yellow curry powder, which refers to the “madras curry” spice blend. Although there is some overlap between their ingredients, yellow curry powder contains turmeric and has a completely different flavor profile. However, if you can’t find garam masala, use whatever curry powder you have on hand.

Step 1 of this recipe calls for drying the chickpeas with paper towels – do not skip this step. If the chickpeas are wet when they go into the skillet, they will never get nicely browned, which is important for developing the flavor of this hash.

Finally, 7-minute eggs are my favorite way to add a little creamy indulgence to any savory breakfast. If you’re vegan, serve the hash with avocado instead.

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