Çılbır
Poached eggs on garlic yoghurt with warm pepper butter.
Türkiye · Runny, Creamy · Easy · Researched
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 8 min
- Serves
- 2
Wide saucepan · Small frying pan · Slotted spoon · Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 200 g thick plain yoghurt
- 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
- 20 g butter
- ½ tsp pul biber or Aleppo pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp white vinegar, optional
- Bread, to serve
Method
Mix the yoghurt
Mix yoghurt, garlic and salt. Divide between two plates. Take it out of the fridge only while preparing the rest.
Look for: The yoghurt is smooth and spread into a shallow bed.
Heat poaching water
Bring 7 cm water to a gentle simmer in a saucepan; reduce until barely bubbling. Add optional vinegar. Crack eggs into separate small cups.
Look for: The water surface is calm.
Poach the eggs
Lower eggs into the water separately. Cook for 3–4 minutes until the whites set. Lift and drain well.
Look for: Whites are opaque around soft yolks.
Warm pepper butter
Melt butter gently in a small pan, remove from the heat, and stir in pepper. Put eggs on yoghurt and spoon butter over them. Serve at once with bread.
Safety: For this soft-centred preparation, use pasteurised eggs if available. The FDA recommends firm whites and yolks for the lowest risk; children, pregnant people, older adults and people with weakened immunity should choose the fully cooked option. Colour and texture do not prove that an egg is safe.
Look for: The butter colours red without burnt pepper flecks.
Equipment & heat
Equipment & heat
Induction, gas and electric all work. Bring the water to the stated state, then reduce the heat to maintain it. Start timing when the eggs go in; a larger pan, higher altitude or extra-cold eggs may need adjustment. A rolling boil is not a shortcut. Remove the butter from any hob before adding pepper; retained electric heat can burn it.
Nonstick: The butter can warm in any small pan over gentle heat.
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Wet eggs thin the yoghurt. Drain on a clean towel before plating. Burnt pepper tastes bitter; add it after the butter leaves the heat.
About this version
About this version
A garlic-yoghurt and poached-egg preparation. Use pul biber if available; hot chilli flakes need a smaller quantity.
Unless stated otherwise, use large chicken eggs, approximately 60 g in the shell, refrigerated. Timings are starting points: use the visual checkpoints and any stated temperature check.
Sources
This guide was written from the references below. Egg Atlas has not kitchen-tested it.
Illustrations by Egg Atlas. They show the method; they are not photographs of a tested result.