turkish eggs from changa at thirty-two

changa eggs at home

o first ate changa eggs at the providores in marylebone in the early part of twenty-o-nine. a couple of weeks ago he brunched on them at kopapa. kopapa and providores have in common peter gordon and michael mcgarth. gordon is a new zealander and mcgarth (originally british) moved to new zealand. they were both consultants to changa in turkey. this is how changa eggs came to be in london, first at providores and now at kopapa. the description of changa eggs provides enough of a deconstruction to allow one to reconstruct them at home. o asked for them this morning and so i made them for the first time. on a scale of one to ten he scored them at seven. i think that's pretty good for a first try. our observations were the same, that is the consistency of the yoghurt was not right. i only had regular yoghurt at home and i am pretty certain what was needed was greek yoghurt. the creamy and heavier texture of greek yoghurt stands up to whipping and allows the yolks to settle on top rather than blending away. i had these reservations in mind even before i started.

felicity cloake's how to guide on poaching eggs perfectly is very helpful. however, instead of dropping the eggs into a vortex i use john lewis' egg poachette rings, as i never quite get them right with the vortex method. the recipe below makes changa eggs for one hungry husband or two women sharing. 

half a cup of greek yoghurt, whipped and loosened slightly with a few drops of milk

a clove of garlic based in a mortar and pestle

a tablespoon and a half of butter

a generous pinch of chili flakes

a pinch of paprika

a generous pinch of maldon sea salt

two eggs, poached

whip the greek yoghurt with a few drops of milk in a bowl. add the crushed garlic and mix well.

melt the butter on low heat making sure it doesn't burn. add the chili flakes, the paprika and salt and keep warm for a minute or so to let the chili release its warmth.

once all this is done poach the eggs. 

when they are ready place them in the yoghurt and pour on the chili butter. 

then in my case, place infront of the hungry husband and let him eat.

i would have liked to add a garnish of green, perhaps some coriander leaves but i had nothing suitable. as i am writing this it occurred to me that i have a jarful of kirmizi biber which would have have been the perfect addition. i would also replace the raw garlic with roasted garlic as i find raw garlic to be harsh and over-powering. this is what i love about cooking, the process of note taking and improvising a recipe.