Eggs and yoghurt weren’t a combination I’d naturally think to put together, but Turkish eggs make a lot more sense once everything is on the plate.
The yoghurt is seasoned with garlic and salt, the eggs are softly poached, and then hot butter flavoured with paprika and chilli is spooned over everything. Break the yolk and it mixes with the yoghurt and spiced butter into something that’s almost a sauce.
It’s also a good example of a meal where relatively ordinary ingredients become something quite different without needing much cooking.
For my version, I’m keeping the garlic yoghurt simple and using paprika with chilli flakes in the butter. Traditionally, Turkish pul biber or Aleppo-style pepper would be the more characteristic choice, but paprika and chilli are ingredients I’m much more likely to already have.
Serve it with warm flatbread or toasted sourdough and use the bread to scoop up the yoghurt, butter and runny yolk together.
Eggs with Garlic Yoghurt & Paprika Butter
Ingredients
- Garlic Yoghurt
- 250 g Greek yoghurt
- 1 small garlic clove finely grated or minced
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp lemon juice optional
- Poached Eggs
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tbsp white vinegar for the poaching water
- Pinch of salt
- Paprika Chilli Butter
- 30 g unsalted butter
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ –½ tsp chilli flakes
- Pinch of salt
- To Serve
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- Black pepper
- 2 pieces flatbread pita or sourdough
- Lemon wedges optional
Method
- Bring the yoghurt towards room temperature
- Take the yoghurt out of the fridge about 20–30 minutes before serving if you have time.
- You don’t need it warm, but fridge-cold yoghurt underneath freshly poached eggs creates a bigger temperature contrast than I want.
- Mix the yoghurt with the garlic and salt.
- Taste it.
- If you’d like a little more acidity, add the optional teaspoon of lemon juice.
- Spread the yoghurt across two shallow bowls or plates.
- Prepare the eggs
- Crack each egg individually into a small cup or ramekin.
- Bring a medium saucepan of water to a very gentle simmer. You want small bubbles rather than a rolling boil.
- Add the vinegar.
- Poach the eggs
- Gently lower the eggs into the water.
- Depending on the size of your saucepan, cook them two at a time rather than overcrowding the pot.
- Poach for approximately 3–3½ minutes for set whites and runny yolks.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and allow excess water to drain.
- If there are particularly wet edges, briefly rest the spoon on a clean tea towel or paper towel before transferring the egg to the yoghurt.
- Place two eggs onto each plate.
- Make the paprika chilli butter
- While the eggs are poaching, melt the butter with the olive oil in a small frying pan over medium-low heat.
- Once the butter begins foaming, add the sweet paprika, smoked paprika and chilli flakes.
- Swirl for about 20–30 seconds.
- Don’t fry the paprika aggressively. Ground spices can burn surprisingly quickly and become bitter.
- Remove from the heat once the butter is fragrant and has turned a deep orange-red.
- Pour over the butter
- Immediately spoon the hot paprika butter over the eggs and yoghurt.
- You want some over the eggs and some running directly into the yoghurt.
- Finish
- Scatter over the dill and parsley.
- Add freshly cracked black pepper.
- Serve immediately with warm flatbread, pita or toasted sourdough.
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