Cilbir

Had never imagined eggs over yogurt till they were made famous on Food52 and by Nigella Lawson. The turkis eggs known as cilbir are poached eggs that are laid over greek style yogurt whipped with some garlic and lime juice. These then get a drizzle of Aleppo pepper brown butter and maybe a few sprigs of dill.

Turkish Style Eggs

There are so many possibilities when you start cooking these. Alongwith poached eggs as an alternative we started incorporating even our sunny side eggs over yogurt. We love the eggs with crisp edges as well as with soft gently cooked silken texture. When made crispy dont be surprised if final dish reminds you of the chat dish Sev potato dahi puri.

After cooking the eggs Along-with some chopped onion and green chilies we used the same butter left in the pan to make the aleppo pepper brown butter for drizzling. We also pan sautéed some small gorgeous heirloom tomato’s that went perfectly with the eggs.

The yogurt was creamed with a spoon with some salt, finely chopped garlic and lime juice. The eggs and tomatoes went on top and the dish was finished with a drizzle of chilli brown butter and some sprigs of dill.

This makes for a wonderful breakfast with hot and cold tastes of creamy eggs and freshness of Tomatoes’s and raw dill. Cutting in the yolk is as always the money shot and the most exciting part!

2 eggs cracked in 2 bowls and brought to room temperature

0.5 cup greek yogurt whipped in a bowl with a spoon

2 tsp fresh lime juice

1 garlic chopped fine

2 tsp aleppo pepper (substitute with kashmiri red chili powder 1 tsp or paprika)

1 tsp chopped green chilies

2 tsp chopped red onion

4 heirloom cherry tomatoes halved.

A sprig of dill seperated into small leaves

2 tsp butter

1 tsp olive oil

Salt for seasoning

Mix yogurt lime juice and garlic and season with salt

heat olive oil in a pan on medium high heat and add tomatoes to the hot pan and sauté momentarily then keep pan aside.

Melt butter in pan on medium heat. When foaming add the two eggs one by one

Immediately avoiding the yellows, add a pinch of Aleppo pepper, green chillies, onion and cook on gentle heat till whites are just cooked, then remove from pan to a plate

Add the remaining Aleppo pepper to the butter, add some more if needed and cook on low till browned then remove pan from heat.

Smear the yogurt on the plate, add the cooked eggs on top. Add tomatoes. Drizzle the chilly brown butter on top. Garnish with dill sprigs and serve.