Çılbır (Turkish Poached eggs with Yogurt) Recipe

1. Brief description

Çılbır is a popular Turkish breakfast or brunch dish. Turkey has a breakfast culture called ‘Kahvalti’. In most countries, it is common to eat simple and few types of food for breakfast, but in Türkiye(Turkey), breakfast is prepared with a variety of simple and varied foods. This is called ‘Kahvalti’, the Turkish breakfast culture.

One of many Kahvalti dishes, Çılbır is a nutritious egg poached in an easy-to-eat form, served with a creamy yogurt sauce and bread for breakfast.

2. Cooking ingredients(2 Servings)

2 eggs, 1 cup Greek yogurt, 1/2 lemon, a little bit of salt, a little bit of black pepper, a little vinegar

Chili butter: 1/4t chili powder, 1/4t paprika powder, 3T butter

Garnish: Choose between parsley or parsley powder, dill, and herb leaves according to your taste

3. How to cook

Step 1. Put half of the water in a pot and bring to a boil. And lower the heat to low to avoid bubbles.

Step 2. If you add 1T of vinegar to slightly boiling water that does not bubble, it will prevent the egg whites from coagulating.

Step 3. Break one egg into each small plate.

Step 4. Stir the water in the pot 3-4 times along the rim with a spoon to create a whirlpool.

Step 5. Pour the egg from the plate into the water from Step 4.

Step 6. After cooking the eggs for about 3 minutes, soak the eggs in cold water or cool them on another plate for a while before the yolks cook further.

Step 7. Grind only the yellow part of the lemon peel in a grater to make lemon zest.

Step 8. Make lemon zest and squeeze the juice out of the remaining lemon.

Step 9. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper powder to Greek yogurt and mix. Taste and adjust ingredients.

Step 10. Melt butter in a pan, add chili powder and paprika powder, bring to a boil, then remove from heat.

Step 11. Put the yogurt from Step 9. on a plate, place a poached egg on it (or place a poached egg on bread or serve with bread), and sprinkle the chili butter from Step 10.

Step 12. Garnish with parsley or parsley powder, herbs, dill, etc.

4. cooking tips

When it is difficult to make lemon zest or lemon juice, you can cook more conveniently by using commercially available lemon juice.

As for bread, it is good to serve it with ‘Ekmek’ bread, a traditional Turkish bread, but it is difficult to find, so you can use baguette or regular bread.