Turkish Eggs with Chili Butter (Cilbir)

What is Çılbır?

Çılbır is a Turkish breakfast dish that dates back to the 15th century Ottoman Empire. It consists of a poached egg atop a base of herb-infused garlic yogurt and drizzled with a spiced browned butter sauce (traditionally infused with Aleppo pepper but when not available, paprika/chili/red pepper flakes work too which is what we used).

How to Pronounce Çılbır

It is pronounced, chil-bir. Apparently, in the Ottoman Empire, it was a word that referred to a number of dishes that use poached eggs.

Suggestions for Making Çılbır

• Poaching the egg
  • The traditional way to poach an egg is to add a pinch of salt and 1-2 tbsp vinegar to a pot of water, bring to a simmer, swirl the water, carefully add eggs into the swirling water, cover the pot, turn off the heat, and let poach for 5 minutes.
  • However, there is a much easier, less-messy, and less-wasteful method which uses the egg poacher listed below the recipe. All you do is bring water to a simmer, add eggs to the ramekins, cover, and let sit for 4 minutes. Perfectly and consistently poached eggs every time!!
• Yogurt Base
  • This is the typical way to make the yogurt base, with grated garlic (check out the microplane below for easy grating!). For herbs, we used dill but it works equally well with parsley, cilantro, fennel, etc.
  • Feel free to add some lemon zest/juice for a citrus twist!
  • As an alternative to yogurt, some Turkish chefs substitute whipped feta with garlic and herbs.
• Toppings
  • Feel free to top with whatever you have in your kitchen. We topped ours with chives and toasted pine nuts. We also served it with some roasted pistachios.
• Bread
  • We just used some sourdough slices that we toasted in extra spiced browned butter in the pan. Feel free to use homemade Dutch oven bread, pita bread, or Turkish Pide bread.

Other Similar Recipes

If you liked this recipe for Turkish Eggs with Chili Butter, check out our other egg-topped breakfast recipes:

• Galette de Bretagne (Buckwheat Crêpes)
• Eggs Benedict with Prosciutto & Arugula
• Moroccan Shakshuka

Turkish Eggs with Chili Butter (Cilbir)

Protein-packed, this Turkish breakfast recipe is a delicious way to experience poached eggs.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Mediterranean, Turkish

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 2 cups plain Greek yogurt
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• ½ tsp dill
• Fresh chives diced
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 pinch paprika
• 1 pinch chili powder
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp pine nuts
• 2 eggs
• 3 slices fresh bread

Instructions

 

• Finely grate garlic cloves into a paste and mix in with yogurt and dill. Set aside.
• Poach 2 eggs.
• Meanwhile, In a small pan, heat butter on medium heat until slightly browned. Add paprika, chili powder, and red pepper flakes, cook for another minute, and pour most of it into a bowl and set aside (keep a bit in the pan).
• In that same pan, coat a few slices of bread with the remaining butter and toast in the pan on both sides until golden and crispy. Set aside and lightly toast the pine nuts in that pan, making sure they don’t burn.
• Now, spoon the garlic-dill-yogurt onto a plate, add the poached egg in the middle, drizzle over some of the browned chili butter, and sprinkle with chives, black pepper, and pine nuts.
• Cut open the poached eggs, letting the yolk spill into the yogurt, and serve with your toasted bread.

Keyword Eggs, Protein, Turkish, Yogurt

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