During my week long trip to Antalya very recently, I was on a diet of fried turkish eggs almost every breakfast of the week. In every place serving breakfast under listed on the menu is ‘Turkish eggs’. And then there are different versions of it like “Turkish eggs with Sucuk” which is eggs with sausages. Or there is “Menmen” which is scrambled eggs with peppers and tomato.
These fried eggs served in a very attractive copper skillet is beautifully somewhat submerged in olive oil and herbs. With giant slices of bread, mopping these soft fried eggs with the olive oil was nothing short of a divine experience.
So I asked one of the restaurant servers to guide us to the place where we could buy these skillets. We made an expedition to the old bazaars of Antalya and found not one but several shops selling various utensils and items of decor. Given the hand baggage only travel that we were on we managed to stuff one each of these lightweight skillet in our bags.
So what i have created today is exactly the Turkish Eggs we had in Antalya. Easy as a breeze, does not even need to be penned down. But i really want this one to be on my blog. I am mindful of the fact that Turkish eggs elsewhere are poached eggs served on a bed of pillowy greek yogurt with olive oil drizzle. However what you see below is how we had the Turkish eggs in Antalya and we LOVED it.
- Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add olive oil and butter. Now for 2 eggs you may need a good 1 tbsp and a teeny bit more. Idea is for the oil to be on the sides and top as well, so this dish needs more than your scanty bit just to fry eggs in a regular fry. Add a small knob of butter.
- Add some aleppo pepper and oregano. Just let its sizzle for a second or two. Now very lightly and carefully break two eggs in. Let it cook for few minutes. Try to get the white of the eggs to the side so they are not very jelly like.
- Do not overcook the eggs, they need to be mushy so they unite with the oil and butter.
- Remove from heat, season with salt and serve with crusty bread.
Using Aleppo Pepper : Now this is what make quite a bit of difference to the dish. Aleppo pepper is a bit sweet and smoky. Its a Turkish paprika also used in other middle eastern countries. While normal chilli flakes can be used as well, for most authentic taste please try to get Aleppo pepper. Easily available in supermarket or order online here
Hope you will try these eggs. They are so easy to make and so flavoursome. I cannot say with the quantity of oil that its super healthy but i think it can be a little indulgence for a weekend brunch.
