Garlic Chilli Oil Eggs with Crusty Bread

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 4 thick slices crusty bread, toasted
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 0.5 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• flaky sea salt
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp Greek yogurt
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 15g flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• simple green salad, to serve

Method

1. Whisk the Greek yoghurt with the tahini, a good squeeze of lemon juice and a generous pinch of flaky salt until smooth and spoonable. Taste it — you want it sharp enough to cut through the warm oil that's coming. Spread thickly across two plates in a wide swoosh and leave at room temperature so it doesn't shock the eggs.
2. Warm the olive oil in a small heavy pan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic slices and let them sizzle gently for 1–2 minutes, swirling the pan, until they're pale gold and fragrant — no more. Don't burn it. Burnt garlic turns the whole oil bitter and you'll taste it through everything.
3. Drop in the chilli flakes, smoked paprika and cumin seeds and bloom them in the hot oil for 30–60 seconds until fragrant and the cumin starts to crackle. Raw spices taste dusty; bloomed spices taste of themselves. Tip the lot into a small bowl before the garlic catches.
4. Wipe the pan, add a slick of fresh oil and set over medium-high heat. Crack the eggs in — two at a time if your pan is small, don't crowd them or the whites will steam together instead of crisping. Season with salt and pepper. Fry for 2–3 minutes until the whites are set, the edges lacy and golden-brown, and the yolks still wobble when you nudge the pan.
5. Slide two eggs onto the yoghurt on each plate. Spoon the warm garlic chilli oil generously over the top, letting it bleed amber pools into the cool yoghurt. Taste a corner of yoghurt with oil — adjust salt now, not at the table.
6. Scatter with chopped parsley and a final pinch of flaky salt. Serve straight away with the crusty toast alongside for dragging through the yoghurt and oil, and the green salad on the side.