Georgian Chirbuli Egg and Tomato Skillet

About This Recipe

Chirbuli is a simple, rustic Georgian dish traditionally associated with mountain shepherds and hunters, built from whatever tomatoes, peppers and eggs were on hand around the fire. A thick sauce of stewed tomatoes, onion and hot green peppers is cooked down until deeply savory, then whole eggs are cracked directly into the pan and left to poach gently in the sauce until just set. The defining feature of chirbuli is its generous use of hot green peppers, giving the dish real heat that distinguishes it from milder egg-and-tomato dishes found elsewhere. A scatter of fresh cilantro or basil at the end adds a herbal lift, and the dish is traditionally cooked and served directly in the same cast-iron or clay pan it was made in, kept bubbling at the table. Getting the sauce right requires real reduction time so it's thick enough to hold the eggs without turning watery once they're added — a loose, thin sauce won't set the eggs properly and leaves the dish looking more like scrambled eggs in broth than a proper chirbuli.

Ingredients

Serves 3

• 5eggs
• 3 tbspvegetable oil
• 1onion(finely chopped)
• 2hot green peppers(chopped, seeds left in for heat)
• 4tomatoes(chopped)
• 2 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1 tspfine sea salt
• 0.25 tspground coriander
• 0.25 cupchopped cilantro or basil

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the onion and peppers

   Heat oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Cook onion and hot green peppers until softened, about 6 minutes.

2. 2

   Add tomatoes and garlic

   Add tomatoes, garlic, salt and ground coriander. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 12 minutes until thick and the raw tomato smell is gone.

   Reduce the sauce until it's genuinely thick — a spoon dragged across the pan should leave a brief trail before the sauce flows back.

3. 3

   Make wells for the eggs

   Use the back of a spoon to create shallow wells in the sauce, then crack an egg into each well.

4. 4

   Poach the eggs

   Cover and cook over low heat 5 to 6 minutes until the whites are set but the yolks are still soft, or longer if you prefer firmer yolks.

5. 5

   Finish and serve

   Scatter with cilantro or basil and serve immediately, straight from the pan, with bread for scooping.

Variations

• •

  Add crumbled sulguni or feta cheese over the top in the last minute of cooking for a richer version.

• •

  Use bell peppers instead of hot green peppers for a much milder, family-friendly take.

• •

  Stir in a spoonful of ajika at the start for extra depth and heat.

Storage

Best eaten immediately; if needed, refrigerate the tomato-pepper base (without eggs) up to 2 days and reheat before poaching fresh eggs into it.

Frequently Asked Questions