Cilbir - Turkish Eggs

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Cilbir Turkish Eggs

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CILBIR - Turkish Breakfast Eggs

I love eggs, and I’m always keen to find new ways of enjoying them.

The first time I came across Cilbir was in a quaint little street café in the Turkish city of Izmir.
I had just strolled over their amazing produce market (selling leeks the size of a toddler) and really wanted a hearty breakfast rather than the usual sweet dishes they serve, like chocolate acme or pancakes.

The owner suggested I try Cilbir, and I am so glad I did.

Cilbir Turkish Eggs

What is Cilbir?

Of course I had no idea, what I was getting myself into, as the only information I was given was ’Cilbir is Turkish breakfast eggs’.

So, let me share my since acquired knowledge with you: Cilbir, also known as ‘Turkish eggs’, is a popular breakfast dish from Turkey. It consists of poached eggs served on a bed of thick, creamy yogurt with dill, and drizzled with a hot ‘Aleppo Butter’ sauce made with melted butter and red pepper flakes.

Cilbir is usually served with a crusty bread (try my super easy soda bread) or a pita.

Poaching the egg

Cilbir is so easy and quick to make that it will soon become a staple in your home. It shouldn’t take you much longer than 15 minutes to prepare and serve.

If you are unsure or a bit anxious about the prospect of having to poach an egg, I have written a super easy guide on how to do that. Just head over to my article and follow the step by step instructions for a perfect poached egg.

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Afiyet Olsun - that's Turkish for 'bon appetit'.
Have you had Cilbir before? If so, where? I would very much like to know what you think of my recipe - please comment below. Time to get cooking: let's get our aprons, I'll see you in the kitchen.

Xoxo Rena

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Cilbir - Turkish Eggs

Print this recipe

A delicious and easy breakfast dish consisting of poached eggs on a bed of herby yogurt and topped with spicy melted butter.

Fact Sheet

Category: breakfast Cuisine: Middle Eastern Gluten free Low calorie Low carb Vegetarian European under 1 hour under 30 minutes Breakfast Cooking Method: poaching Diet: Gluten Free Vegetarian Low Carb Preparation Time: 5 minutes Total Time: 15 minutes Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • 450g (1 3/4 cups) Greek yogurt
  • 1 bunch dill, chopped (approx 3-4 TBSP)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 TBSP butter
  • 1 1/2 TBSP olive oil
  • 1 TBSP vinegar (or lemon juice, for poaching the eggs)
  • 1 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes or chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp salt

Instructions

    Cilbir Turkish Eggs ingredients
  1. Preparing the yogurt:
  2. Mince your garlic and drizzle with 1/2 TBSP olive oil. This will help extracting the aromatics (if you add plain garlic to the yogurt it will otherwise take a much longer time to release its flavour).
  3. Mix garlic-oil, salt, chopped dill and yogurt.
  4. Preparing the 'Aleppo-butter' / spicy butter sauce:
  5. In a small sauce pan, heat butter and olive oil until they melt but do not boil - skim the milk solids as they rise to the top. Then add pepper flakes and paprika and let sit in the pan on low heat while you poach the eggs.
  6. Poaching the eggs:
  7. One or two at a time, poach the eggs until the yolk has the consistency you prefer. Drain excess water off with a kitchen paper.
  8. Serving
  9. Ladle yogurt into a bowl, place the poached egg(s) on top and spoon the still warm Aleppo butter over it. Garnish with some additional dill or fresh herbs and serve with fresh bread.
Bon appetit

Comments

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Carolyn M

I like finding new ways to cook eggs. This sounds interesting !
> Reply < March 4, 2023, 2:36 p.m.

Rena .   moderator

You should definitely give it a go, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
> Reply < March 4, 2023, 6:31 p.m.