As a Bengali, you grow up understanding that poached eggs or ‘dim’er poach’ is a fried egg, which is folded and cooked with a runny yolk intact. Strange and funny but we are a strange lot. If French toasts can become savoury, I egg fried eggs can be egg poach. It was much later, that I understood the meaning and the different kinds of eggs with their true names. Turkish poached eggs came into our lives pretty recently, about a couple of years back. It was one of those beautiful brunch sessions at The Daily Cafe, where we had tasted this wonderfully make egg siting on a bed of yogurt with a mildly spicy sauce.

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In our travels in Istanbul and Cappadocia, we didn’t come across Turkish poached eggs. I remember having cinnamon scented scrambled eggs. I have this wonderful Turkish cuisine cook book called Eat Istanbul. That has several breakfast and egg recipes but not this one. It was only in the last couple of years that I even started seeing posts of Cilbir on various social media platforms. On trying it out at The Daily Cafe, I knew, it was going to be a hit at home. We are anyway always on the lookout for egg recipes. We have eggs for breakfast everyday and a variety matters. Now Turkish eggs poached on a bed of yogurt has become a weekly affair. I reckon, it would works really well in summers.

Troubles with poaching of eggs

It was after Masterchef Australia, one of the early seasons, that I started trying out poached eggs at home. Boil the water, add vinegar, create a swirl and then drop the egg in the centre. And like a vortex, the egg is supposed to swirl inside and form shape. Looked pretty doable on TV. Well, it was a disaster many times afterwards too. My father told me, how my grandmother would place the eggs in a strainer and place it in the water to poach the eggs. Tried that too and the stringy egg whites would literally cloud the water. The one with the eggs cracked inside a bowl and then placing it inside a saucepan with water, works. However, I can’t really call it poached eggs. That’s steamed eggs, isn’t it? Every few months, I try my hand, fail miserably and then give up.

How to make the perfect Turkish poached eggs?

With suggestions from one of the videos of Nigella Lawson, I have perfected the method of poaching eggs. So, a few things to keep in mind to make the perfect Turkish poached eggs are-

  • You need good quality Greek yogurt . In case you cannot find any, use hung curd. Place yogurt in a muslin cloth and hang it somewhere. Let the water drip out. Leave it for a couple of hours and then squeeze out any extra water. The remaining is a creamy, almost cheese like, Greek yogurt.
  • Without fail, keep your eggs in the refrigerator. Preferably over night or even a couple of hours work.
  • Have all the ingredients and utensils ready next to you before starting out.
  • Make your butter sauce ready and keep aside. Cream the yogurt with garlic and whatever else you want and plate in a bowl and keep it ready.
  • For poaching the eggs, let the water come to a boil in a saucepan (a deeper one with a wider mouth is preferable)
  • Crack one egg into a strainer kept over a bowl. Let the extra liquid part drip out.
  • Gently transfer the egg to a wide mouthed shallow bowl or a tea cup. Add lemon juice to the egg white.
  • When the water has boiled, lower the heat and let it simmer.
  • Bring the bowl with the egg as close to the water as possible and drop it into the water.
  • Let it sit there for 2 to 3 minutes or until the egg white has set.
  • Strain it out of the water and place on the yogurt.
  • Spread butter sauce and herbs and serve immediately with some crusty bread.

This is an easy way to make Turkish Poached egg – Clibir. Have you subscribed to our youtube channel yet, if not then please subscribe – 

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Turkish Poached eggs Cilbir - 2

Turkish Poached Eggs | Cilbir

Turkish poached eggs, also known as Cilbir in Turkish, is perhaps of the easiest and best breakfast made with eggs. The yogurt makes it healthy and filling while the butter sauce gives it the necessary richness. If you are scared of poaching eggs, then follow the steps in the recipe. You will never go wrong again. You can improvise with the spices as per the availability and it makes for a fantastic brunch as well.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Course Breakfast, Egg Recipes, Non Vegetarian
Cuisine Mediterranean
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

  • 3/4 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1/4 tsp cumin powder
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp extra virgirn olive oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • salt to taste preferably sea salt
  • dill or coriander leaves for garnish

Instructions
 

  • You need good quality Greek yogurt . In case you cannot find any, use hung curd. Place yogurt in a muslin cloth and hang it somewhere. Let the water drip out. Leave it for a couple of hours and then squeeze out any extra water. The remaining is a creamy, almost cheese like, Greek yogurt. About 400 gms of yogurt makes 3/4 cup of Greek yogurt approximately.
  • Without fail, keep your eggs in the refrigerator. Preferably over night or even a couple of hours work.
  • Grate the garlic cloves in the yogurt and add sea salt generously. Whisk it till the yogurt is smooth and creamy, without any lumps.
  • In a frying pan, melt the butter on low heat and let it brown (not too much). Turn off the heat and add red chilli powder and cumin powder. Add olive oil and mix it. Keep it aside.
  • Take the yogurt and distribute it in two bowls.
  • Put a saucepan full of water for boiling. In the meantime, crack one egg into a strainer kept over a bowl. Let the extra liquid part drip out.
  • Gently transfer the egg to a wide mouthed shallow bowl or a tea cup. Add lemon juice to the egg white.
  • When the water has boiled, lower the heat and let it simmer. Bring the bowl with the egg as close to the water as possible and drop it into the water.
  • Let it sit there for 2 to 3 minutes or until the egg white has set. Strain it out of the water and place on the yogurt.
  • Drzzle butter sauce over the egg and the yogurt. Garnish with coriander leaves.
  • Serve immediately with some crusty bread.

Video

Keyword breakfast, brunch recipe, cilbir, cilbir recipe, easy breakfast recipe, healthy breakfast, quick breakfast, Turkish breakfast, Turkish eggs, Turkish poached eggs