Sîr-mast bi hêk — Garlic Yoghurt with Poached Eggs and Olive Oil

⏱ 22 min · 🍽️ 2 Servings · 🧂 8 Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 400 g thick yoghurt (see the recipe Sûzme — strained yoghurt, as thick as cream cheese; or shop-bought Turkish yoghurt, 10 % fat)
  • 1–2 clove garlic
  • 0.25 tsp salt
  • 1 l water
  • 2 tbsp light vinegar (cider vinegar)
  • 4 piece eggs (medium)
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes (Pul Biber)

Instructions

  1. Take the yoghurt out of the fridge. Peel the garlic, crush it with the salt on a board to a fine paste using the flat of a knife blade and stir it thoroughly into the yoghurt. Leave the garlic yoghurt to stand until it reaches room temperature.
  2. Bring the water and vinegar to the boil in a wide pan and turn down the heat until it is just simmering: small bubbles rise from the bottom, but the surface does not bubble. Crack each egg into its own small bowl.
  3. Stir a gentle whirlpool into the water with a spoon and slide the eggs one after another into the simmering water, holding the bowls just above the surface; in a small pan it is better to work in two batches. Poach the eggs until both whites and yolks are firm.
  4. To check whether they are done, lift out one egg with a slotted spoon and press lightly on the yolk with a spoon; it must be firm all the way through and must not give, otherwise poach all the eggs for another 1 to 2 minutes. Lift the eggs out with the slotted spoon and drain briefly on kitchen paper.
  5. Divide the garlic yoghurt between two deep plates, smooth it with the back of a spoon and make a shallow hollow in it. Place 2 eggs on each.
  6. Warm the olive oil in a small pan over a low heat just until it smells slightly fragrant but does not smoke. Take it off the heat, stir in the Pul Biber and leave to infuse until the oil turns red.
  7. Drizzle the red oil over the eggs and yoghurt and serve immediately.
  8. Tip: Serve with warm flatbread such as Nanê tenûrê — clay-oven flatbread, baked on a stone in the oven — to scoop up the yoghurt, egg and oil together. A pinch of dried mint, infused in the warm oil, goes well with it. Leftover garlic yoghurt keeps covered in the fridge for one day.
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Sîr-mast bi hêk — Garlic Yoghurt with Poached Eggs and Olive Oil – Recipe and image AI-created, editorially reviewed
📖 Culinse

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kurdistanfrühstückvegetarischglutenfrei

Sîr-mast bi hêk — Garlic Yoghurt with Poached Eggs and Olive Oil

A Kurdish classic from Afrin in north-western Syria: Sîr-mast bi hêk is a breakfast from the olive-growing area around Afrin in which poached eggs sit on thick garlic yoghurt and are drizzled generously with olive oil coloured red by Pul Biber. In Kurmanji, sîr means garlic, mast yoghurt and hêk egg. The cool, creamy yoghurt, the eggs poached until completely firm and the warm, red-tinged oil are scooped up with flatbread and make a simple, very flavourful breakfast.

⏱

Cook time

22 min

🍽️

Servings

2

🧂

Ingredients

8

View Original ↗

Nutrition

per serving

615 kcal

Calories

24 g

Protein

53 g

Fat

11 g

Carbs

Ingredients

For 2 servings

Estimated cost~€1.55 · ~€0.80/serving
  • 🛒

Instructions

  1. 1

    Take the yoghurt out of the fridge. Peel the garlic, crush it with the salt on a board to a fine paste using the flat of a knife blade and stir it thoroughly into the yoghurt. Leave the garlic yoghurt to stand until it reaches room temperature.

  2. 2

    Bring the water and vinegar to the boil in a wide pan and turn down the heat until it is just simmering: small bubbles rise from the bottom, but the surface does not bubble. Crack each egg into its own small bowl.

  3. 3

    Stir a gentle whirlpool into the water with a spoon and slide the eggs one after another into the simmering water, holding the bowls just above the surface; in a small pan it is better to work in two batches. Poach the eggs until both whites and yolks are firm.

  4. 4

    To check whether they are done, lift out one egg with a slotted spoon and press lightly on the yolk with a spoon; it must be firm all the way through and must not give, otherwise poach all the eggs for another 1 to 2 minutes. Lift the eggs out with the slotted spoon and drain briefly on kitchen paper.

  5. 5

    Divide the garlic yoghurt between two deep plates, smooth it with the back of a spoon and make a shallow hollow in it. Place 2 eggs on each.

  6. 6

    Warm the olive oil in a small pan over a low heat just until it smells slightly fragrant but does not smoke. Take it off the heat, stir in the Pul Biber and leave to infuse until the oil turns red.

  7. 7

    Drizzle the red oil over the eggs and yoghurt and serve immediately.

  8. 8

    Tip: Serve with warm flatbread such as Nanê tenûrê — clay-oven flatbread, baked on a stone in the oven — to scoop up the yoghurt, egg and oil together. A pinch of dried mint, infused in the warm oil, goes well with it. Leftover garlic yoghurt keeps covered in the fridge for one day.

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