Reference
Malayalam food glossary
173 words, each with a short English explanation and nothing more. No script, no grammar — enough to recognise what you are holding in front of a shop shelf.
- Agni
- in the traditional framework, the digestive fire, held to be strongest at midday; the stated reason the first rice course of a sadya arrives when it does.
- Ammikkallu
- the flat stone slab and roller for wet pastes. It crushes rather than cuts, which is why a stone-ground coconut paste behaves differently from a machine-ground one. Chapters 13 and 14.
- Appachatti
- the small deep lidded pan with curved sides whose shape makes an appam. Chapter 13.
- Arikkadukka
- Malabar stuffed mussels, mentioned in this book for context rather than cooked in it.
- Attappady Thuvara
- a heirloom red gram maintained by Adivasi cultivators in Attappady, registered as a geographical indication.
- Aval
- flattened or beaten rice, used here as a binder. R039.
- Avial
- mixed vegetables bound with a ground coconut-and-cumin paste, finished with raw coconut oil and curry leaf. The legend attaching it to Bhima is a story rather than a documented origin. R069.
- Chakka
- jackfruit. Tender green chakka behaves as a vegetable, ripe chakka as a sugary fruit, and the two are effectively different foods. R116.
- Chammanthi
- a thick, dry, pounded chutney, usually coconut-based, eaten with kanji or rice.
- Chattuvam
- the flat wooden or coconut-shell turner. It lifts and folds where a metal spatula bruises and shreds. Chapter 13.
- Chaya · chayakkada
- tea, and the tea shop. The sweetening habit is later than the drink.
- Cheena chatti
- the deep cast-iron pan that is Kerala's wok; the name means "China vessel". Contested: the etymology records a perceived Chinese origin, and whether the shape actually arrived from China cannot be shown. Chapter 13.
- Cheera
- amaranth leaves, green or red, the red bleeding into a thoran. Sold abroad as callaloo, yin choy or Chinese spinach. R065.
- Chembu
- colocasia or taro; slippery when cooked, and the central tuber of Thiruvathira puzhukku. Must be cooked through.
- Cheriya ulli
- Kerala's small pink-purple shallots. Sweeter, denser and lower in water than a large onion; sold abroad as Madras onions, sambar onions or small red onions.
- Cherunaranga
- the small thin-skinned Indian lime, used as a finishing acid.
- Chirava · thenga chirava
- the hand coconut scraper, bench-mounted or hand-cranked, which shreds the kernel into long wet flakes. Chapter 13.
- Choru
- cooked rice, in everyday speech.
- Chukku
- dried ginger, used in karkidaka kanji and in boiled herbal waters. R108.
- Daahashamani
- a boiled aromatic water of dry ginger, cardamom, clove and coriander seed, drunk warm; carminative in intent and plain in fact.
- Dum
- the sealed, low final phase of a biryani in which rice and masala finish together in their own steam. R018.
- Elakka
- cardamom.
- Elayada
- a steamed sweet parcel of rice dough with coconut and jaggery, cooked in a folded leaf. R115.
- Gandhakasala
- an aromatic short-grain Wayanad rice, registered as a geographical indication; a more perfumed relative of jeerakasala.
- Grambu
- cloves.
- Idiyappam
- steamed nests of fine rice noodles, pressed through a mould. Pre-colonial; documented in Sangam-era Tamil sources. Also called noolappam. R005.
- Inchi
- ginger.
- Inji puli
- the sweet-sour-hot ginger and tamarind relish of the sadya leaf. Also written injipuli and puli inji, and the two word orders are both in use. R098.
- Jathikka · jathipathri
- nutmeg and mace, the seed and its lacy red aril, both grown in Kerala's midland gardens.
- Jeerakam
- cumin.
- Kaadi
- coconut vinegar: cloudy, mild, faintly sweet.
- Kalan
- a thick curd-and-coconut dish with yam or plantain, cooked down until it clings. Also written kaalan. R070.
- Kadala parippu
- split Bengal gram, chana dal. Not to be confused with kadala.
- Kaduku
- mustard seed, where a Kerala tempering begins.
- Kallummakkaya
- the Asian green mussel, a Malabar specialism. R034.
- Kanji vellam
- the starchy water from cooking rice, traditionally drunk. No clinical trial supports a metabolic claim for it, and Chapter 7 says so.
- Kappa
- tapioca, cassava. A Brazilian root that became a Malayali identity, promoted as a famine crop in Travancore and made a staple by wartime rice shortage. Peel, boil hard, discard the water.
- Kariveppila
- curry leaves. Also written karivepilla. Volatile and short-lived, which is why the dried leaf is a duller ingredient.
- Karimeen
- pearl spot, a brackish-water fish of the backwaters and Kerala's state fish since 2010. R029.
- Karkidaka kanji
- the medicinal rice gruel of the monsoon month Karkidakam, taken warm at night. R108.
- Karuvapatta
- cinnamon; also karugapatta. Kerala and Sri Lanka grow the true species; most supermarket cinnamon is cassia, and Chapter 9 explains why that matters.
- Karuppatti
- palm jaggery, darker and more mineral-tasting than cane jaggery, and no different metabolically.
- Kayam
- asafoetida.
- Kichadi
- a curd-based side with a cooked vegetable, close kin to pachadi; households draw the line between the two differently, and both usages are correct.
- Koonthal
- squid. R037.
- Koorka
- Chinese potato: small, knobbly, intensely aromatic, tedious to clean. R077.
- Koottukari
- a thick sadya dish of pulse with tuber or raw banana, on the astringent side of the six tastes.
- Kothavara
- cluster beans, slightly bitter and best in a coconut thoran.
- Kozhukkatta
- a steamed dumpling of rice dough with a filling, savoury or sweet. R104.
- Kurumulaku
- black pepper.
- Maida
- refined white wheat flour, the material of the modern parotta and one of the four documented shifts in Chapter 2.
- Mallii
- coriander seed, which gives body rather than punch. Mallii ela is the leaf.
- Manchatti
- the unglazed earthenware pot; see meen chatti.
- Manjal
- turmeric.
- Matta
- Kerala's everyday parboiled short-grain rice, reddish-pink from the bran. Palakkadan Matta is registered as a geographical indication; rosematta is the same family under a trade name. Anything labelled matta that is white and long is polished rice with a heritage word on the packet.
- Mathi
- sardine. The fish that punishes a bad buy hardest. R026.
- Mathu
- the wooden churner used for buttermilk and sambharam. R107.
- Meen
- fish. Meen chatti is the fish pot; meen vevichathu is the kudampuli fish curry; meen peera is the dry coconut-and-fish preparation.
- Meen chatti
- the unglazed clay fish pot, also called manchatti. Inert to acid, slow to heat and cool, and microporous, so a seasoned one carries something of the last curry into the next. Chapters 13 and 14.
- Mixie
- the Indian jar blender, universal in Kerala kitchens. It cuts and heats where a stone crushes; Chapter 14 gives the workarounds.
- Moilee
- a pale, gentle coconut-milk fish curry. Also written molee, moily and molly, all for the same dish. R025.
- Moonnaam paal
- the third, thinnest coconut extraction. See onnaam paal.
- Mulaku
- chilli. Pacha mulaku is the green chilli, vattal mulaku the dried red.
- Muringakka · muringayila
- drumstick pods and moringa leaves, the highest-protein green here. Chapter 12's verdict: an outstanding food and a weak supplement. R066.
- Nadan
- "of the country", local, home-style. Attached to a dish name it signals the household version rather than the restaurant one.
- Nallenna
- gingelly or sesame oil, pressed from raw seed and light golden; not the dark toasted East Asian oil, which is wrong here.
- Nannari
- the root of Hemidesmus indicus, simmered for a cooling drink. Also written nannari veru. R110.
- Nendran
- the large Kerala plantain, green as a vegetable and ripe as ethakka.
- Neychoru
- ghee rice. R017.
- Neymeen
- seer fish or kingfish, the special-occasion steak fish and the best source of omega-3 fats in these waters. Chapter 12 sets out the mercury caution honestly. R030.
- Njavara
- a short medicinal rice, used in karkidaka kanji. Also written navara. R108.
- Olan
- ash gourd and cowpea in thin coconut milk, barely spiced, finished with raw coconut oil. Quiet by design, and not silent. R068.
- Onnaam paal · randaam paal · moonnaam paal
- the first, second and third coconut-milk extractions. The first is a finish and must never boil; the later two are cooking liquid. Chapter 14. M08.
- Pacha manga
- hard green unripe mango, used as an acid and as flesh.
- Pachakam · pachakavidhi
- cooking, and method of cooking; the title of the 1953 newspaper column that began Kerala food writing.
- Padavalanga
- snake gourd, the lightest vegetable in this book at 12 kcal per 100 g. R075.
- Palappam
- the softer, thicker appam of Syrian Christian kitchens. R001.
- Pappadam
- the thin lentil wafer of the sadya leaf. Also written papadam, and sold in Indian shops outside Kerala as papad. Roasting it rather than frying it saves the whole fat load.
- Parotta
- the layered maida flatbread of restaurant and roadside Kerala; not in this book's recipes and discussed in Chapter 2 as one of the four shifts.
- Pathiri
- the Malabar rice flatbread, in dozens of documented variants.
- Pavakka
- bitter gourd, at 21 kcal per 100 g. Chapter 12 reports that the two best syntheses of the human evidence found no significant effect on HbA1c or fasting glucose. R072.
- Pazham
- ripe banana. Pazham nirachathu is the stuffed, steamed or fried version. R102.
- Peera
- a dry preparation of fish with grated coconut, cooked under a lid and finished uncovered. Also peera pattichathu. R031.
- Perumjeerakam
- fennel, the signature of Malabar meat cooking.
- Pokkali
- a saline-tolerant Kerala rice grown in rotation with prawns, registered as a geographical indication.
- Pollichathu
- cooked in a wrapping of banana leaf on a griddle, the leaf browning and blistering while the fish steams inside. R029.
- Porichathu
- fried. R043.
- Potassium chloride, food-grade
- the 30% of the 70:30 salt (M07), sold as low-sodium or potassium salt. Not for a reader with chronic kidney disease, or on a RAAS inhibitor, a potassium-sparing diuretic or a potassium supplement, without a doctor's approval. Chapters 10 and 12.
- Puli
- tamarind, and more broadly sourness. Vaalanpuli is the tamarind pod.
- Puttu kutti
- the cylindrical puttu steamer, originally bamboo and now usually steel. The vessel gives the dish its name and its shape. Chapter 13.
- Puzhukku
- boiled and crushed tubers bound with a coconut paste.
- Rasam
- a thin, sharp, peppery tamarind broth, drunk as much as eaten. Also spelt rasam everywhere; the Tamil root milagu thanni, pepper water, is also the origin of Anglo-Indian mulligatawny. R086.
- Rava
- semolina, coarse-ground wheat, the material of upma. R013.
- Sambharam
- spiced diluted buttermilk, drunk cold. R107.
- Sevanazhi
- the idiyappam press. The Kannada Lokopakara of 1025 CE documents both the dish and the mould-press, so this is a thousand-year-old documented instrument. Chapter 13.
- Shaap
- the toddy shop, and by extension its cooking: hard-seasoned, acid-forward, and the source of several dishes now considered restaurant classics.
- Shadrasa
- the traditional six-taste framework: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent. Treated in this book as a traditional organising idea that happens to produce a varied plate, kept separate from clinical evidence.
- cane jaggery. Sharkara upperi is the jaggery-glazed banana chip.
- Sulaimani
- the black spiced tea of Malabar, with lime. R111.
- Thaalikkuka
- tempering: whole spices and curry leaf bloomed in hot fat, at the start of some dishes and poured over the top of others. Also thaalippu. Which, and why, is the first technique in Chapter 14.
- Thairu
- set curd, yoghurt. Must never boil.
- Thakkali
- tomato. R088.
- Tharavaad
- the large joint household, and the kitchen that went with it.
- Thattu dosa
- the small thick griddle dosa of the roadside stall. R007.
- Thattukada
- the roadside food stall, and one of the four documented shifts in Chapter 2.
- Thavi
- the deep ladle. Chapter 13.
- Thenga
- coconut. Thenga kothu is the sliver cut; thengaappu the spent gratings left after milk is pressed, which still hold most of the fibre and are worth keeping.
- Thenga aracha · thenga chertha
- "with ground coconut" and "with coconut added": a paste cooked in and thickening, against milk added and enriching. The grammar of the whole cuisine, and the second technique in Chapter 14.
- Thiruvathira puzhukku
- the tuber dish of a rice-free women's festival; the one day the tubers take the centre of the leaf. Contested: sources place Thiruvathira in different Malayalam months.
- Thoran
- the dry vegetable dish with raw grated coconut crushed in at the end, cooked in the vegetable's own water under a lid. R063 is the master pattern.
- Thooshanila
- the tender tip portion of the banana leaf, the prized cut at a feast.
- Toddy · kallu
- fermented palm sap, and the original leaven of kallappam.
- Ulli
- onion or shallot. Ulli theeyal is the shallot theeyal. R084.
- Uluva
- fenugreek, and one of three spices whose trial dose Chapter 9 finds reachable through food. Every mention of it in this book carries the caution that it can lower blood glucose further in a reader using insulin or a sulfonylurea, which is a matter for their clinician.
- Unakka meen
- sun-dried salted fish, used as seasoning rather than as bulk. Rinse, soak, and add no further salt. R036.
- Unakkalari
- short-grain raw rice, the correct grain for a milk payasam. R120.
- Unnakkaya
- a Malabar sweet: ripe plantain pounded to a dough around a coconut filling, shaped as a small pod. Also written unnakaya. R103.
- Upastharanam
- the spoon of ghee poured over the first rice course of a sadya. R117.
- Upperi
- the broadest of the dry-vegetable words. In household speech a dry-cooked side, roughly interchangeable with mezhukkupuratti; on a sadya leaf, the deep-fried salted banana chip. Both meanings are correct. R079.
- Uruli
- the wide, shallow, heavy bell-metal or brass pan, the traditional vessel for payasam and for anything that needs slow reduction. Chapter 13.
- Uzhunnu
- urad dal, black gram; split and skinned for batters, whole for a tempering crackle.
- Varutharacha
- coconut dry-roasted dark and then ground; a third register rather than a variant of thenga aracha. The third technique in Chapter 14. M09.
- Vazhakkoombu · vazhapindi
- plantain flower and plantain stem, the two most underused vegetables in the cuisine. R078.
- Velichenna
- coconut oil. Chapter 8 sets out what it is and is not; Chapter 14 sets out where this book keeps it and where it moves to sesame, groundnut or rice bran.
- Vellarikka
- cucumber, in its Kerala varieties. R091.
- Vellayappam
- a thicker, whiter, milder appam.
- Velluthulli
- garlic. The one spice in this book whose trial dose overlaps ordinary cooking; Chapter 9 gives the numbers.
- Vendakka
- okra. Chapter 12 notes that no human randomised trial of okra water has been verified, and that eating the pod delivers far more of its soluble mucilage than steeping it. R074.
- Vevichathu
- boiled, cooked in liquid; in practice, the kudampuli fish curry. R024.
- Yeast, instant
- the modern alternative to toddy as the leavening in an appam batter (M10), at 2 g. Chapter 12.