Garlic yogurt, poached eggs and pul biber butter: a Turkish dish for two, ready in about twenty minutes.
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Food · International
Turkish çılbır: poached eggs with yogurt and spiced butter
Garlic yogurt, poached eggs and pul biber butter: a Turkish dish for two, ready in about twenty minutes.
2026-10-27 · Editorial staff · Estimated reading time: 3 min
Queen of Queens · Food
The recipe
Türkiye
- Servings
- 2
- Preparation
- 10 min
- Cooking
- 10 min
- Rest / waiting
- 0 min
- Total time
- 20 min
- Estimated calories per serving
- 350 kcal
Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients and quantities
- 4 medium eggs
- 300 g plain strained yogurt, 5% fat
- 20 g unsalted butter
- 1 small garlic clove (about 3 g)
- 2 g pul biber, or sweet paprika for a mild variation
- 2 g fresh dill, optional
- 15 ml white vinegar, for the poaching water
- About 1 litre water
- Salt, to taste
Method
- Mix the yogurt with finely grated garlic and a pinch of salt. Divide between two shallow bowls while you prepare the eggs.
- Heat the water and vinegar in a saucepan until gently simmering, without a vigorous boil. Crack each egg into a small cup.
- Carefully slide two eggs at a time into the water. Cook for about 3–4 minutes, until the whites have set. Lift out with a slotted spoon and repeat with the remaining eggs; cook longer if you prefer firm yolks.
- Melt the butter over gentle heat, remove from the heat and stir in the pul biber without burning it.
- Place two eggs over the yogurt in each bowl. Spoon over the spiced butter, finish with dill and serve immediately.
Story and origins
Çılbır is a Turkish dish of poached eggs and garlic yogurt. Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism documents a preparation finished with red pepper. The national culture portal also records an Isparta version using browned kaymak fat, showing that the finishing sauce varies between preparations. This version uses butter and pul biber.
Tips and variations
Use plain, unsweetened yogurt. For soft yolks, choose pasteurised eggs suitable for this preparation; alternatively cook until the yolks are firm too. Any bread served alongside is excluded from the calorie estimate. Estimated energy: about 350 kcal per serving, varying with brands and egg size. Times are approximate.
Allergens
Eggs, milk. Check spice labels too. Optional bread served separately may contain gluten.
Sources and further reading
- Ministero della Cultura e del Turismo turco — Çılbır
- https://www.ktb.gov.tr/EN-98928/poached-egg-with-yogurt.html
- Portale culturale turco — variante di Isparta
- https://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/isparta/neyenir/cilbir--cilbir-
- FAGE Total 5% — informazioni nutrizionali
- https://uk.fage/yoghurts/fage-total-5
- British Lion — nutrizione delle uova
- https://www.egginfo.co.uk/egg-nutrition-and-health/egg-nutrition-information
- National Dairy Council — composizione del burro
- https://ndc.ie/the-nutritional-composition-of-dairy/
Calories are estimates per serving and vary with ingredients, brands and actual quantities. Times are approximate; the total includes the stated resting time.
