| | |

Turkish Poached Eggs in Yogurt

Have you heard of Çılbır aka Turkish poached eggs?

I hadn’t. I just chanced upon it on Nigella Lawson‘s cooking channel where, in her inimitable style, she laid out these perfect poached eggs on a bed of garlicky yogurt and – this is the bit that sold me – topped it with lashings of melted butter. It sounded like a dream breakfast, and obviously I had to try it immediately.

And Oh. My. God. I wasn’t prepared for the sledgehammer of flavour these Turkish poached eggs delivered. The silky eggs in that silky yogurt with all that silky butter is just layers and layers of flavour and a breakfast that feels so decadent you might want to go for a jog afterwards. It is worth it. I loved it so much I ate it for three days straight.

But eggs? And yogurt? Isn’t that an odd combo?

Is what my wife said (actually, she just said “gross”). And she had to eat her words afterwards, because the two go together so well you’ll wonder why you haven’t tried it before. The yogurt, when mixed with the garlic and dill, takes on this almost sauce or dip-like quality that just really melds well with the eggs. I like my yogurt really garlicky, like keep-vampires-away garlicky, so I heaped it on, but you can go easier on it. The dill is also optional – I just wanted a bit of freshness to lift the dish since it was going to be so rich.

Originally the dish uses a sprinkling of Aleppo chilli flakes or powder in the butter to give it that slight heat. I’ve never seen it here in India so I substituted it with regular chilli flakes and a bit of sweet paprika. Çılbır also doesn’t usually use brown butter, but I wanted to take it right to the edge and give it that nutty beurre noisette flavour – you can simply choose to melt the butter, add the paprika/pepper and pour that over your Turkish poached eggs in yogurt.

TURKISH POACHED EGGS CILBIR

What do I need to know about poaching eggs?

You want to use a deep enough pan to poach the eggs that they don’t sink and stick to the bottom of the pan when you put them in. I do the whole “swirl the water and create a vortex” thing before I drop the egg in because I feel like it brings the whites together better around the yolk, but you can skip that. I also find that three minutes makes for a perfectly poached egg on my stove on a low flame. Don’t worry if the egg breaks or the whites spread out or you overcook it a little bit. It still makes for a delicious dish – you can just call it Turkish eggs instead of Turkish poached eggs. And if you’ve mastered your poached eggs already, why not take my Keto Eggs Benedict for a spin?

cilbir the turkish eggs in yogurt

 

Nutrition Info (Per serving)

  • Calories: 437
  • Net Carbs: 9g
  • Carbs: 9g
  • Fat: 38g
  • Protein: 17g
  • Fiber: 0g

This recipe makes 1 serving. Get this recipe on myfitnesspal.

Why are there 9g Carbs?

In this recipe the carbs are coming from a few places. Two eggs have about 1g of carbs. You have about 6g coming from the Yogurt. Now if you half the Yogurt for a single serving then that’s 6g net carbs per serving. The garlic has 1g carb which you can skip completely or use garlic powder. That’s pretty much it. My suggestion is use only 50g of the yogurt if you prefer to keep the carbs lower.

Turkish poached eggs

Turkish poached eggs

Çılbır - Turkish Poached Eggs in Yogurt

Poached eggs on a bed of garlicky, herby yogurt topped with melted butter
No ratings yet
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine Turkish
Servings 1 serving

Ingredients
  

  • 100 gram Yogurt Full fat Greek Yogurt
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 Tbsp Butter
  • 1 Tsp olive oil
  • 1/2 Tsp red chili flakes
  • 1/2 Tsp Paprika
  • 1 Tsp Chopped Dill
  • 1 clove Garlic, minced
  • Salt to Taste

Instructions
 

  • Chop up a teapoon of fresh dill as fine as possible
  • Add the full-fat yogurt to a bowl and add a pinch of salt, the fresh chopped dill, and a clove of garlic, minced. Mix well to combine.
  • To make the brown butter, get a saucepan on the stove and add in a generous amount of butter (or you could stick to the 2 Tbsp). Let the butter melt slowly, and keep swirling the pan until you see the butter just start to bubble and brown. Turn the heat off and add a bit of olive oil to stop the browning, then add the chilli flakes and the Aleppo pepper or paprika. Set aside.
  • Set a sufficiently deep pot of water to boil on the stove. Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer, and add a teaspoon of vinegar to it.
  • Lay a strainer over a bowl and crack your egg gently into it. The runny part of the white will fall through the strainer. This is to ensure that you don't get strings of wispy egg white when you poach the egg. Then gently tip the egg into a bowl. This makes it easier to get them into the pot of boiling water, rather than cracking them directly into the pot, which could cause your yolks to break.
  • Using a spoon or spatula, swirl the water in the pot until you have a mini-whirlpool going. Quickly, but gently, tip the egg into the centre of the whirlpool. Cover the pot with a lid and set a three-minute timer.
  • After three minutes, lift the egg out of the water with a spider or slotted spoon and set it aside on a plate. Repeat the above steps with the second egg.
  • When both eggs are done, it's time to assemble the dish. On a plate or bowl, add a large spoonful of the yogurt and spread it around a bit to create a bed for the eggs. Lay the eggs on the yogurt gently and season with a sprinkle of salt. Top with a generous amount of the browned chilli butter and finish off with some fresh dill on top. Serve warm.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Similar Posts

3 Comments

  1. Adding this delicious recipe to my egg dish choices ! What healthy way to start the day, or end it, or eat it for lunch! All the best of flavors.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating