Vegetables in Malayalam: word list with pictures
30 words · tap 🔊 to hear each one in Malayalam.
| Picture | English | Malayalam | Say it | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Potato | ഉരുളക്കിഴങ്ങ് | urulakkizhangu | |
 | Tomato | തക്കാളി | thakkaali | |
 | Onion | ഉള്ളി | ulli | |
 | Carrot | കാരറ്റ് | kaaratt | |
 | Peas | പട്ടാണി | pattaani | |
 | Cucumber | വെള്ളരിക്ക | vellarikka | |
 | Brinjal | വഴുതനങ്ങ | vazhuthananga | |
 | Okra | വെണ്ടയ്ക്ക | vendaykka | |
 | Cauliflower | കോളിഫ്ലവർ | koliflavar | |
 | Cabbage | കാബേജ് | kaabej | |
 | Bottle Gourd | ചുരക്ക | churakka | |
 | Spinach | ചീര | cheera | |
 | Pumpkin | മത്തങ്ങ | mathanga | |
 | Corn | ചോളം | cholam | |
 | Capsicum | കാപ്സിക്കം | kaapsikkam | |
 | Chilli | മുളക് | mulaku | |
 | Garlic | വെളുത്തുള്ളി | veluthulli | |
 | Ginger | ഇഞ്ചി | inchi | |
 | Broccoli | ബ്രോക്കോളി | brokkoli | |
 | Mushroom | കൂൺ | koon | |
 | Sweet Potato | മധുരക്കിഴങ്ങ് | madhurakkizhangu | |
 | Radish | മുള്ളങ്കി | mullanki | |
 | Beetroot | ബീറ്റ്റൂട്ട് | beetroot | |
 | Bitter Gourd | പാവയ്ക്ക | paavaykka | |
 | Green Beans | ബീൻസ് | beens | |
 | Coriander | മല്ലിയില | malliyila | |
 | Drumstick | മുരിങ്ങക്കായ | muringakkaaya | |
 | Ridge Gourd | പീച്ചിങ്ങ | peechinga | |
 | Fenugreek Leaves | ഉലുവയില | uluvayila | |
 | Raw Banana | പച്ചക്കായ | pachakkaaya |
Kerala cooking is full of vegetables, and a child who helps in the kitchen hears their names every day. This page teaches 30 vegetables name in Malayalam and English with a picture and audio for each. Tap a picture in Listen mode to hear "വെണ്ടയ്ക്ക, okra". In Find it, Golu asks for a vegetable in Malayalam and your child picks it out. Memory turns them into a pairs game. The full list with pronunciations is in the word list above. Vegetables in Malayalam are called പച്ചക്കറികൾ (pachakkarikal), from പച്ച, green, and കറി, curry.
Vegetables from a Kerala kitchen
Some vegetables on this list are everyday Kerala staples that you may not find in an English picture book:
- മുരിങ്ങക്കായ (muringakkaaya, drumstick): long green pods in sambar. Children love chewing the soft insides.
- പാവയ്ക്ക (paavaykka, bitter gourd): bumpy and bitter; a brave taste test for older children.
- പീച്ചിങ്ങ (peechinga, ridge gourd) and ചുരക്ക (churakka, bottle gourd): soft gourds for thoran and curries.
- പച്ചക്കായ (pachakkaaya, raw banana): a vegetable, not a fruit, until it ripens. Kerala banana chips are made from it.
- ചീര (cheera, spinach): Kerala's red and green cheera are cooked as a quick thoran with coconut.
- മത്തങ്ങ (mathanga, pumpkin): sweet and orange, used in erissery.
Ten vegetables to learn first
Start with what is in your kitchen this week. A good set: ഉരുളക്കിഴങ്ങ് (urulakkizhangu, potato), തക്കാളി (thakkaali, tomato), ഉള്ളി (ulli, onion), കാരറ്റ് (kaaratt, carrot), വെള്ളരിക്ക (vellarikka, cucumber), വഴുതനങ്ങ (vazhuthananga, brinjal), വെണ്ടയ്ക്ക (vendaykka, okra), മുളക് (mulaku, chilli), ഇഞ്ചി (inchi, ginger) and ചോളം (cholam, corn). Potato is a long word: clap it out, u-ru-la-kki-zhan-gu, and your child will laugh while learning. Its cousin മധുരക്കിഴങ്ങ് (madhurakkizhangu) is literally "sweet tuber", sweet potato.
Onam sadya: a vegetable feast
The Onam sadya is served on a banana leaf and can have more than twenty dishes. Avial mixes drumstick, raw banana, cucumber, carrot and beans in coconut and curd. Sambar uses drumstick, brinjal, okra and pumpkin. Thoran is a dry dish of chopped cabbage, beans or cheera with grated coconut. Before Onam, make a game of it: show a vegetable in the game above, then find it in the real sadya. Ask your child which dish it went into.
Words first, tasting later
Many children refuse vegetables they do not know. Learning the name and playing with the picture first makes a new food feel familiar. Try these ideas:
- Shop together. At the market or an Indian store in Dubai, London or Houston, let your child find and name the തക്കാളി.
- Wash and sort. Children can wash vegetables and sort them by colour; see colours in Malayalam.
- Grow one. Many Kerala homes keep a small kitchen garden. Even abroad, a pot of chilli or മല്ലിയില (malliyila, coriander leaves) on a windowsill gives a vegetable to name every morning.
- No pressure. Offer, name, and move on. For worries about eating or growth, talk to your paediatrician.
Curry leaves, കറിവേപ്പില (kariveppila), are not in the game, but they are in almost every Kerala tadka, so add that word too. For fruit words, visit fruits in Malayalam. For the same vegetables in English and Hindi, see the vegetables name page. All the Malayalam games are on the Learn Malayalam hub.
Vegetable names at a glance
The word list above gives vegetables name in English and Malayalam, so you can use it as a list of Malayalam vegetable names or vegetable names in Malayalam. Each card shows vegetables name in Malayalam with pictures, which makes it easy to find the name of vegetables in Malayalam. The vegetable meaning in Malayalam is pachakkari. This is not all vegetables name in Malayalam, but it covers the Kerala vegetables children see most.
Quick answers: okra in Malayalam is vendaykka; brinjal in Malayalam is vazhuthananga; bitter gourd in Malayalam is paavaykka; ridge gourd in Malayalam is peechinga; bottle gourd in Malayalam is churakka; pumpkin in Malayalam is mathanga; potato in Malayalam is urulakkizhangu; tomato in Malayalam is thakkaali; onion in Malayalam is ulli; ginger in Malayalam is inchi; garlic in Malayalam is veluthulli. Raw banana in Malayalam is pachakkaaya. Spinach in Malayalam is cheera, one of the leafy vegetables in Malayalam cooking, along with coriander leaves in Malayalam, malliyila, and curry leaves in Malayalam, kariveppila. Green vegetables in Malayalam homes also include beans and cucumber.
Sambar vegetables and avial vegetables overlap a lot, and the Onam sadya dishes use nearly every one on this page. A small kitchen garden Kerala-style, even on a balcony abroad, teaches vegetables for kids better than any chart. Our picky eater tips above come down to one idea: know the name first. These Malayalam words for kids turn every meal into a lesson.
അടുക്കളയിലെ മലയാളം
കുട്ടികൾക്ക് അടുക്കളയിൽ സഹായിക്കാൻ വലിയ ഇഷ്ടമാണ്. പാചകം ചെയ്യുമ്പോൾ "വെണ്ടയ്ക്ക എടുത്തുതരുമോ?", "തക്കാളി എവിടെ?" എന്നൊക്കെ ചോദിക്കൂ. അങ്ങനെ പച്ചക്കറികളുടെ പേരുകൾ അവർ എളുപ്പം പഠിക്കും.
ഓണസദ്യയ്ക്ക് അവിയലും സാമ്പാറും തോരനും ഉണ്ടാക്കുമ്പോൾ ഓരോ കഷണവും ഏതു പച്ചക്കറിയാണെന്ന് കുട്ടിയോടു ചോദിക്കാം. മുരിങ്ങക്കായ, മത്തങ്ങ, പച്ചക്കായ എന്നിവ കണ്ടുപിടിക്കാൻ അവർക്കു രസമാണ്.
കഴിക്കാൻ നിർബന്ധിക്കേണ്ട. പേര് അറിയുമ്പോൾ പുതിയ ഭക്ഷണം പരിചയമുള്ളതായി തോന്നും, പിന്നെ രുചിച്ചുനോക്കാൻ മടി കുറയും.
How to use this page at home
Say it, then find it
Play for a few minutes, then look for the same thing away from the screen: malayalam words on the shelf, in the kitchen, on the way to school. A child learns a word properly when they meet it twice, once on the screen and once in their hand.
Ten minutes is enough
Short and happy beats long and tired. Stop while your child still wants more, and come back tomorrow: the same page on five short days teaches far more than one long sitting. Nothing here is scored, so there is no reason to push.
Use both languages
Tap the language button at the top to hear the words in your home language first and the second language after. Hearing the same picture named in two languages is one of the few things research agrees builds attention as well as vocabulary.
