Turkey · Breakfast and Brunch
Çılbır (Turkish Eggs)
Poached eggs on a bed of thick, garlicky yogurt, finished with warm spiced butter or olive oil.

Ingredients
- large eggs, as fresh as possible4
- plain full-fat Greek yogurt300 g
- small garlic clove, crushed to a paste with salt1
- white wine vinegar1 tbsp
- unsalted butter50 g
- extra virgin olive oil1 tbsp
- Aleppo pepper / pul biber1 tsp
- smoked paprika0.5 tsp
- fresh dill2 tbsp
- flaky sea salt1 pinch
- crusty sourdough or flatbread for serving2 slices
Method
- 1Prepare the garlic yogurt and bring it to room temperature. Take the yogurt out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving — ideally an hour. Combine the yogurt and crushed garlic in a bowl, season with salt, and whisk until smooth. Divide between two wide, shallow serving bowls, spreading it to the edges in a thick layer. Return to room temperature — do not refrigerate. This is critical: cold yogurt will shock the poached egg, steal all its heat, and cause the hot butter to harden on contact instead of pooling beautifully.
- 2Prepare the spiced butter but do not cook it yet. Measure out the butter, olive oil, Aleppo pepper, and smoked paprika. Have the dill washed and chopped. Have a slotted spoon, a clean kitchen towel, and the serving bowls with yogurt all ready. The spiced butter takes 30 seconds from start to finish and must be made immediately before serving — you cannot make it ahead and reheat it without losing the sizzling effect when it hits the yogurt.
- 3Poach the eggs. Bring a wide, deep pan of water to a gentle simmer — you want small bubbles rising steadily from the bottom, not a rolling boil. Add the vinegar. Crack each egg into a small cup or ramekin. Lower the rim of the cup to just above the water surface and tip the egg in gently. Add all four eggs, 20 to 30 seconds apart. Cook for 3 minutes for runny yolk, 3.5 minutes for slightly firmer. Lift with a slotted spoon, let the water drain, and rest briefly on a folded kitchen towel.
- 4Make the spiced butter immediately. While the eggs are in their final minute of poaching, melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat with the olive oil. When the butter foams and the foam begins to subside — this is nutty, browned butter — add the Aleppo pepper and smoked paprika. Stir for 5 to 10 seconds. The spices bloom in the fat and the color turns deep red-orange. Remove from heat immediately. If you let it go another 30 seconds, the spices burn and the flavor turns bitter.
- 5Assemble and serve right now. Place two poached eggs on top of the yogurt in each bowl. Spoon the hot spiced butter over the eggs generously — it should sizzle audibly when it hits the yogurt and pool around the eggs. Scatter fresh dill over the top, finish with a pinch of flaky salt. Serve immediately with plenty of bread. To eat: break the yolk with your bread, let it run into the yogurt and butter, load the bread, eat. Repeat until nothing remains.