Meat in Malayalam
Ask for meat at a Kerala shop and the word you need is ഇറച്ചി (irachi), which covers the flesh of any animal or bird eaten as food. The more formal മാംസം (maamsam) also means meat, and is what is used for flesh in general. Beef, chicken and mutton stalls are all described with irachi in everyday speech.
Meat. The flesh of an animal or bird used as food.
ഇന്ന് ഉച്ചയ്ക്ക് ഇറച്ചി കറിയുണ്ട്.
innu uchaykku irachi kariyundu.
There is meat curry for lunch today.
All Malayalam words for “meat”
- ഇറച്ചി (irachi) — Meat. The flesh of an animal or bird used as food.
- മാംസം (maamsam) — Flesh, meat, muscle, fleshy part of vegetables.
- കടുപ്പമുള്ള (kaduppamulla) — Hard, firm or solid; also tough or difficult; tough; hard, not easy to do or to break; also said of strong people and of hard meat.
- കോഴി (kozhi) — Chicken; a hen or cock kept as a bird; also the meat of that bird.
- താറാവ് (thaaraavu) — Duck. A water bird with webbed feet, kept for eggs and meat.
- പലഹാരം (palaharam) — Cake, sweet meat, pastry, fruits, etc.
irachi is the kitchen and market word, while maamsam leans formal and also means flesh or muscle; kozhi and thaaraavu name the birds themselves rather than their meat.
Common questions
How do you say meat in Malayalam?
Say ഇറച്ചി (irachi), the ordinary word for meat as food.
Is maamsam the same as irachi?
They overlap, but maamsam is the formal term and also means flesh or muscle tissue, while irachi is what you ask for when buying or cooking.