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Turkish Eggs Recipe (Cilbir)

Turkish eggs served in a blue bowl with spicy butter sauce and chopped fresh dill on a dark background.
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5 from 7 reviews

Poached eggs served on Greek yogurt, drizzled with spicy butter sauce and garnished with chopped fresh dill. You can't stop dipping bread into this!

Ingredients

Yogurt Bed:

  • 1 cup Greek yogurt, at room temperature

  • 1 clove garlic, mashed

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped (optional)

Poached Eggs:

  • 2 eggs

  • 1 tablespoon light-colored vinegar (or lemon juice)

Spiced Butter Sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons butter

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (pul biber, Aleppo or crushed dried chilli)

  • 1 teaspoon paprika

Garnish:

  • Chopped fresh dill

  • Red pepper flakes (pul biber)

Instructions

Yogurt Bed:

  1. Mix together Greek yogurt, mashed garlic and salt. Optionally add in chopped fresh dill and put it aside.

Poached Eggs:

  1. Put a finemesh strainer over a bowl. Crack one egg into it. Swirl it gently so that the watery part of egg white drips into the bowl below. This step is to prevent the whites from dispersing in the water and you will have better looking poached eggs. Repeat this for the second egg and gently transfer the eggs into two separate small bowls or ramekins. Put them aside.

  2. Fill a medium saucepan with water. When the water is just about to simmer and you see small bubbles in the water, add in vinegar. Gently slide the eggs in small bowls one by one in the water. Reduce the heat and don’t let the water boil. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the whites are set and yolks are runny. 

  3. Using a slotted spoon, remove the poached eggs from the water and place them on a plate.

Spiced Butter Sauce:

  1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan until it is foamy. Add in olive oil, pul biber (red pepper flakes) and paprika. Give it a stir and let them heat for 5-10 seconds. Remove from the heat. 

Serving:

  1. Put the yogurt mixture in a bowl. 

  2. Place the poached eggs on it. 

  3. Pour a generous amount of spiced butter sauce over these. 

  4. Sprinkle chopped fresh dill and pul biber (red pepper flakes). Serve immediately with some toasted bread.

Notes

  1. Bring yogurt to room temperature. If you forget to remove it from the fridge in advance, you can warm the yogurt in a heatproof bowl placed over simmering water.
  2. If you want to serve for two, share the yogurt mixture into two bowls and place a poached egg on each and then drizzle the butter sauce over each bowl.
  3. Don’t add salt to the poaching water or on eggs when they are in water. This will make the egg whites disperse in the water. 
  4. Prepare the eggs before starting to poach. If you are planning to use more than two eggs, use the finemesh strainer method explained above for each of them and put each egg into a separate bowl and put them aside. 
  5. For more than two eggs, either use a large pot or preferably, poach them in two or three batches. 
  6. We use a light-colored vinegar to prevent egg whites from dispersing a lot in the water when poaching. You don’t feel the taste, so don’t worry.
  7. You can substitute lemon juice for vinegar if you want.
  8. If you want, you can cut off the unwanted parts of egg whites before placing them on yogurt. 
  9. There is no way of storing cilbir. So we recommend that you serve it immediately. 
  10. When making the spiced butter sauce, be careful not to burn it. After the butter melts, immediately add in olive oil and the peppers. The sauce is ready after 5-10 seconds.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://www.giverecipe.com/turkish-eggs-cilbir/