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Turkish

Atom (strained yoghurt with chilli butter)

Vegetarian

Atom

Thick strained yoghurt spread on a plate and topped with dried hot chillies sizzled in butter until the butter turns red. A fiery, cooling Istanbul meyhane meze named for its 'explosive' heat.

Atom (strained yoghurt with chilli butter) is a Turkish dip from Türkiye, ready in about 8 minutes and made with greek yogurt, butter and dried whole chillies. It serves 4 and is rated beginner to cook.

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Prep
5 min
Cook
3 min
Total
8 min
Serves
4
Level
Beginner
Calories
135

Ingredients

4 meze servings (about 85 g)

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Whisk (opens in a new tab) the yoghurt with the crushed garlic (opens in a new tab) (if using) and the salt until smooth and glossy. Spread it on a shallow plate in a thick round and make a wide hollow in the centre with the back of a spoon.

    Eggs being whisked in a bowl
    How it looks · Photo: Kampus Production on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Melt the butter (opens in a new tab) in a small frying pan over medium-low heat until it foams. Add the broken dried chillies and the pul biber (opens in a new tab) and stir for 30–60 seconds, until the butter turns brick red and the chillies darken by one shade and smell toasty. Take the pan off the heat the moment they start to smell sharp; burnt chillies taste bitter.

    Food safety: Chilli fumes from hot butter sting the eyes and throat; turn on the extractor fan.

  3. Step 3

    Immediately pour the sizzling butter (opens in a new tab) and chillies into the hollow of the yoghurt so it crackles on contact. Serve at once with bread, warning guests that the whole chillies are very hot.

    • 1 min

About this dish

Origin
Istanbul and the Aegean, Türkiye · Commonly attributedA meyhane (tavern) meze popularised in Istanbul and İzmir in the late 20th century; the name is a modern nickname. Recipes differ mainly in the amount of chilli and whether garlic goes into the yoghurt.More food from Türkiye
Dish
Dinner · Snack · Dips & spreads · Appetizers & starters
Cooking method
No-cook, Pan-fried
Taste
spicy (chilli heat), creamy, buttery, tangy
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients · Keto-style · Low-carb
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Whole-food focused · No gluten ingredients · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Keto-style · Low-carb
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Everyday
Cook more with
Greek yogurt · Butter · Dried whole chillies · Red chilli flakes
Techniques
Pan-frying

Allergens

  • Contains: Milkfrom greek yogurt, butter

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

135 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 85 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 21%
  • Carbohydrate 13%
  • Fat 66%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g
Energy135 kcal159 kcal
Protein7.2 g8.4 g
Carbohydrate4.6 g5.4 g
Net carbohydrate3.9 g4.6 g
Sugars3.1 g3.6 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre0.7 g0.8 g
Fat10.1 g11.9 g
Saturated fat5.7 g6.7 g
Trans fat0.2 g0.3 g
Cholesterol26 mg30 mg
Sodium269 mg317 mg
Salt equivalent0.7 g0.8 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
178 mg
Calcium
79 mg
Iron
0.3 mg
Magnesium
12 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
89 µg
Vitamin C
0 mg
Vitamin D
0 µg
Vitamin B12
0.6 µg
Folate (DFE)
6 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: garlic.
  • Red chilli flakes: Ground cayenne (FDC 170932) used as a stand-in for dried chilli flakes such as pul biber or Aleppo pepper.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Keep the yoghurt cold and the butter very hot; the contrast is the point.
  • For a milder atom, remove the chilli pieces before pouring and use only the red butter.

Common mistakes

  • Frying the chillies over high heat, which scorches them in seconds.
  • Using runny yoghurt; the butter sinks in instead of sitting on top.

Serve with

  • A meyhane meze with rakı, bread and other cold meze such as haydari and ezme.
  • Spooned beside grilled köfte or kebabs.

Food safety

  • Keep chilled and do not leave yoghurt- or cheese-based dips out of the fridge for more than 2 hours (1 hour in hot weather).

Storage

  • Serve freshly made. Leftovers keep 1 day in the fridge, though the butter sets.

Variations

  • With olive oil: Many meyhanes use olive oil instead of butter, giving a lighter, fruitier topping.
  • Yoğurtlu közlenmiş biber: Adding chopped roasted peppers or aubergine to the yoghurt base turns it into a related meze.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Goes with

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

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Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2, 3

Make it milder, swap ingredients for your diet, change the batch size or thickness — the original stays as it is.

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