There’s nothing like a tasty, filling brunch or a late weekend breakfast that gets you ready and excited for a new day, right? Why not try our version of Turkish Eggs (also known as Cilbir) with Dukkah for two for your next special breakfast rendezvous? It’s a creamy yoghurt and soft poached egg affair with a drizzle of chilli flavoured oil and nutty fragrant dukkah! All served with crusty sourdough bread! We can’t think of anything more exciting than this Turkish Breakfast Recipe on our plate on a nice weekend morning!
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Bored of Your Typical Breakfast?
I may have mentioned before that breakfast is not my thing. Rarely do I eat breakfast (likely, because I am still full from the dinner the night before…). But when I do, I try to make sure it’s full of flavour and makes me excited to eat it! That’s why I love trying various breakfast recipes from around the world.
Today’s breakfast recipe comes from Turkey with the addition of Egyptian Dukkah! A sprinkle of Dukkah adds a delicious nutty and fragrant element to this creamy yoghurt and egg dish, not to mention a bit of texture. Paired with chilli and garlic-infused oil, this Turkish egg dish is lively and vibrant enough to wake up your tastebuds and get you in a great mood for the day!
What Are Turkish Eggs (Cilbir)?
A traditional Turkish breakfast recipe, Çılbır, includes poached eggs served on a bed of thick yogurt (sometimes flavoured with garlic), and typically drizzled with chilli-infused oil or butter.
Whilst slightly unusual in the Western world, the Turkish Eggs recipe is a wonderful way to introduce your tastebuds to yoghurt in savoury dishes.
What is Dukkah? How to Use it?
Dukkah is an Egyptian spice mix/ condiment made from a blend of nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. The name Dukkah means ‘to pound’ in Arabic to illustrate the way Dukkah is made. Depending on what you use the mix for, it can be made into fine powder or coarse crumbs. Dukkah is really extremely versatile: it can be used to form a crust on meat or fish, sprinkled over eggs or salads. Another simple way to use it is to mix it with some extra virgin olive oil and dip bread in.
Whilst dukkah can be made in a large pestle and mortar, we are using a food processor to make it effortlessly and very quickly. You can find our Egyptian Dukkah recipe here.
Ingredients and Substitutes
- Greek yoghurt: can be substituted with other thick and creamy plain yoghurts or even labneh.
- eggs: choose free-range eggs with bright yellow yolk for the best flavour and beautiful colours for your Turkish Egg Dish.
- olive oil: can be replaced with avocado or cold-pressed rapeseed oil.
- garlic clove.
- chilli flakes: like Aleppo pepper.
- salt: we used Pink Himalayan salt in this cilbir eggs recipe.
- dukkah: homemade, or you can buy dukkah in most large supermarkets or online.
- parsley: to garnish.
- slices of sourdough bread: or other crusty bread to serve. It’s perfect to mop up the chilli-drizzled yoghurt on the plate.
Method: How to Make Turkish Eggs (Cilbir) Recipe?
Heat olive oil in a small saucepan until hot but not smoking. Then take off the heat. Add a whole clove of garlic, chilli flakes and salt. Leave the oil to infuse with the flavours and cool down for 15 minutes.
Divide the Greek yoghurt between two bowls. Poach the eggs for three to four minutes in boiling water with a splash of vinegar (if in doubt, have a look at our post on How To Poach an Egg?). Using a slotted spoon, place the eggs on top of the yoghurt.
Drizzle the Turkish eggs with yogurt with chilli-flavoured oil and sprinkle with Dukkah. Garnish cilbir with chopped parsley and serve with crusty sourdough bread slices.
What To Eat With Turkish Eggs?
We feel that no Turkish Breakfast Recipe would be complete without a wonderful piece of bread served alongside it. Bread is wonderful to tip into the soft yolk of the Turkish Poached Eggs as well as mop up all the remaining yoghurt and chilli oil at the end of the meal.
Here are some of our favourite types of bread to serve with Cilbir Eggs:
Other Exciting Breakfast Recipes
If you are truly bored of your usual cereal breakfast or looking for ideas for special weekend/ celebratory breakfast feasts, have a look at our recipes below:
- Bagels with Asparagus, Poached Eggs and Pistou
- Mexican Baked Eggs With Salsa Verde
- Tropical Pancakes with Toasted Coconut and Mango
- Crispy Rosti with Poached Eggs and Avocado
- ‘All-Things-Green’ Shakshuka
Recipe Card
Turkish Eggs (Cilbir) Recipe with Dukkah
Ingredients
- 300 g Greek yoghurt
- 4 eggs
- 5 g parsley roughly chopped
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 garlic clove peeled
- ¼ teaspoon chilli flakes
- ¼ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
- 2 teaspoon dukkah
- 2 slices sourdough bread
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a small saucepan until hot but not smoking. Then take off the heat. Add a whole clove of garlic, chilli flakes and salt. Leave the oil to infuse with the flavours and cool down for 15 minutes.
- Divide the Greek yoghurt between two bowls. Poach the eggs for three to four minutes in boiling water with a splash of vinegar (if in doubt, have a look at our post on How To Poach an Egg?). Using a slotted spoon, place the eggs on top of the yoghurt.
- Drizzle the eggs with flavoured oil and sprinkle with Dukkah. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with crusty sourdough bread slices.
Nutrition
Mahy
These eggs are my favorite. They are easy to make and they are absolutely phenomenal when it comes to taste!
Ieva
Thanks, Mahy! Such lovely feedback 🙂
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
These eggs look so gorgeous on the plate. I love a little spice with yogurt too so this is definitely something I am making on a lazy Sunday morning.
Ieva
Definitely, they are perfect for a weekend breakfast!
Sara
Delicious breakfast, loved all the flavours and additional texture of the dukkah. I know we will be making this recipe again!
Ieva
That’s wonderful, Sara! Dukkah is such a game changer in this otherwise texture-less dish! 🙂