Rice in Malayalam
Kerala keeps three words apart where English has one, and അരി (ari) is the grain you buy, measure and wash. The standing plant in the field and the cooked rice on the leaf each have their own word, both given in this entry.
Most common translation
Rice. The uncooked grain; cooked rice is choru and the plant is nellu.
ചന്തയിൽ നിന്ന് അരി വാങ്ങി.
chanthayil ninnu ari vangi.
We bought rice from the market.
All Malayalam words for “rice”
- അരി (ari) — Rice. The uncooked grain; cooked rice is choru and the plant is nellu.
- അന്നം (annam) — Food, rice.
- പ്രഥമന് (pradhaman) — The first one, chief, a kind of dessert made of milk, rice, sugar, fruits etc.
- അവല് (aval) — Flattened rice made from fried paddy.
- ഇരുപ്പുനിലം (iruppunilam) — Rice field cultivated twice a year.
- ഉണ്ണുക (unnuka) — Eat, devour, eat cooked rice, drink milk, honey, etc.
- കറി (kari) — Curry. The cooked gravy or side dish eaten with rice.
- പച്ചരി (pachari) — Unboiled rice, raw flesh.
- പായസം (payasam) — Sweet broth made of milk, sugar (jaggery)rice, etc... served in feasts, a kind of pudding.
- പാലട (palada) — A dessert made of milk, rice flour cake and sugar.
- പുഴുക്കലരി (puzhukkalari) — Rice from boiled paddy, parboiled rice, boiled rice.
- പൊങ്കാല (ponkaala) — Worshipping sun-god, goddesses, etc. with offering of rice boiled with jaggery, ghee, etc.
- പൊടിയരി (podiyari) — Broken rice.
annam means food in general and rice by extension, aval is flattened rice, unnuka is the verb for eating a rice meal, and iruppunilam is a paddy field cropped twice a year.
Common questions
How do you say rice in Malayalam?
Say അരി (ari) for the uncooked grain.
Is cooked rice called by the same word?
No. Cooked rice and the paddy plant have separate words, which the entry for ari names.