Turkish Poached Eggs

Poached eggs are my Bermuda triangle…Mystery….as to why do people like it. Why why why!

As luck would have it, my husband is extremely fond of it and now my daughter. When I came across this dish, it looked too good to not try. I was apprehensive of the poached eggs bit but am so glad I gave it a try. The velvety sauce is a wonderful accompaniment to poached eggs.  

Followed my husband’s method of making poached eggs. He has tried at-least 10-12 ways to make them and this has achieved the maximum success till date.

Modified the recipe a bit as per the ingredients handy. Served it with homemade toasted bread. It turned out to be such a joyful Sunday breakfast.   

Serves – 2 Time – 20 Minutes

Ingredients

1. Thick curd/Greek yoghurt – ¾ cup
2. Garlic clove minced – 1
3. Butter – 2 tblspn
4. Olive oil – 1 tblspn
5. Red pepper flakes – 1 tspn
6. Eggs large -2
7. Lemon juice – 2 tspn
8. Fresh or dried dill chopped – 2 tspn
9. Salt 1 tspn

Method

1. If using curd, strain it so as to have the thick part for the dish
2. Using the double broiler method, heat the curd just enough to be body temperature. Add salt & garlic and set this aside. Let the curd soak the garlic flavor
3. In a pan, melt the butter on low flame till you see it turning light brown. Switch off the flame immediately. Let the butter soak the chilli flake flavor
4. Turn off the flame and add olive oil & chilli flakes. Butter at this step should foam up
5. For poaching the eggs follow the below steps
   1. Use fridge cold egg(this helps in retaining the structure of the egg)
   1. Crack the egg in a strainer so that the runny part gets separated
   1. Gently, transfer the egg into a small bowl
   1. Add 1 tsp of lime juice
   1. Heat water in a pan and just when it is about to reach the boiling point lower the flame and gently drop the egg in the water. (There should not be any movement in the water)
   1. Let the egg poach for 3-4 minutes
   1. Gently scoop out the egg preferably using a slightly scooped spoon and place in a glass bowl(glass/porcelain/bone china helps in easy movement of the egg
   1. Tilt the bowl to remove any excess water if any
6. In the serving bowl, spread the curd at the bottom
7. Place the poached eggs next on it
8. Pour the butter sauce on the eggs and curd
9. Sprinkle the dill and serve

Notes

1. The original recipe calls for Turkish red pepper flakes
2. The double broiler for curd is to make it smooth. Be careful to not cook it
3. I prefer a wide pan for poaching the eggs since its easy to move my hand around in it