Can I let you into a secret? I’m not a huge fan of çılbır, what the Western world refers to as ‘Turkish eggs’. Sorry, but the poached egg and yoghurt combo doesn’t do it for me.

However, give me a perfectly boiled egg on top of creamy, tangy tahini, drizzled with a spiced pul biber butter and contrasted by the crunch of toasted sesame seeds and a fresh, chunky salad, and I’m all yours. In fact, give me a slice of toasted bread to dip

into it, and I’m a friend for life.

Method:

• Place a small frying pan on the hob over a medium heat, and toast the sesame seeds, stirring continuously until evenly golden brown all over. Take the pan off the heat and immediately remove the seeds to a plate so they don’t continue cooking in the hot pan.
• Add the tahini, ice-cold water, lemon juice and half of the garlic to a shallow bowl and whisk to a smooth consistency – the mixture will look like it’s curdled at first, but don’t panic, just keep on whisking until smooth. Add half of the sea salt flakes, whisk again, then leave to one side.
• Place the eggs in a small pan, cover with cold water and place on the hob over a medium heat. Bring up to the boil, simmer for 5 minutes, then take the pan off the heat, carefully drain the hot water and immediately fill up the pan with cold water.
• While the eggs are cooking, place the butter, pul biber, smoked paprika and remaining garlic into a small pan on the hob on a low-medium heat, or in a mug in the microwave and gently stir for a minute or two (or on high for around 30 seconds if using the microwave) until the butter completely melts. Stir well.
• Evenly spread the whipped tahini yoghurt onto four small plates. Once the eggs have been sitting in the pan of cold water for a couple of minutes, peel them, cut them in half and place them with the chopped cucumber and tomato on the whipped tahini yoghurt.
• Drizzle the chilli butter over the eggs, season the eggs and vegetables generously with the remaining sea salt flakes, the coarse black pepper, dried oregano and finely chopped parsley, and serve with hot crusty bread or toast.

Recipe extracted from Dinner Tonight (Ebury Press)