Cilbir: Turkish Eggs with Garlic Yogurt and Chili Butter

Step-by-step recipe

1. The traditional Turkish dish cilbir, poached eggs served with seasoned yogurt and a spiced butter drizzle, is simple and very quick to make. Most of the time goes into heating the water. Take fresh eggs, fresh or dried dill, a little garlic and paprika, plus chili coarsely ground with its seeds. You need thick yogurt, not the drinking kind; stores always have a thick one or soured milk.
   
2. Pour water into a small saucepan with a handle, about as deep as an egg is wide. Put it on the heat and bring to a boil. Then add 1-1.5 tbsp ordinary white vinegar and turn the heat down so the water barely simmers. While the water heats, mix the yogurt with 1 tbsp finely chopped dill and 1-2 garlic cloves. Salt the yogurt to taste and mix well. By the way, dried dill is a fine substitute for fresh; 1 tsp is enough.
   
3. The way the eggs are poached here differs a little from the common method, where you swirl the water in the pan so the white doesn't spread into strands. Then again, whatever works for you. Here, the egg is cracked into a small tea strainer, and just a little liquid drains from the white, or none at all. Then the shelled egg is gently tipped into the simmering vinegar water.
   
4. It's handy to poach two eggs at a time. At the gentlest simmer, with the water still, the eggs cook in 2 minutes without forming any strands of white. Gently lift each egg out of the hot water with a slotted spoon and put it on a wet plate; the water on the plate keeps the runny yolk from sticking and breaking. I like this way of poaching eggs better, and it works the first time, every time.
   
5. From here, things go very quickly. Spoon the dill and garlic yogurt into a deep plate, ideally a small round bowl. Carefully pour off the water from the plate with the poached eggs. Put two eggs on top of the yogurt in each bowl; they slide and roll easily off the plate.
   
6. All that's left is the butter drizzle, which takes 1-1.5 minutes. Wash and dry the saucepan you poached the eggs in. Put it on the heat to evaporate any moisture. Right away, add 1 tbsp real butter and a little olive oil. Quite often only butter is used; it's a matter of taste. As soon as the butter starts to sizzle, add the sweet paprika and chili flakes. Let the pepper sizzle in the butter for 5-10 seconds and take the pan off the heat.
   
7. Spoon the spiced butter over the Turkish eggs on the yogurt. The dish is ready; sprinkle with finely chopped dill or parsley if you like. Serve the eggs with yogurt right away. Usually flatbread or small buns serve as the fork: scoop up the yogurt and soft eggs with their runny yolks. By the way, despite the very hot butter, the dish ends up almost at room temperature; the butter cools the instant it touches the yogurt.
   
8. A traditional Turkish dish with a “creamy” texture and softness, perfect for a good breakfast. Even with the garlic, you can't smell it. The combination of ingredients creates a unique flavor. Toasted whole-grain bread works great instead of flatbread or buns. Though the dish isn't spicy at all, you can leave the chili out of the butter if for some reason you don't like it.