Malayalam has three different verbs for eating, and choosing the wrong one is one of the most audible learner errors there is. Here is the food vocabulary of Kerala, the sadya, and the etiquette nobody explains because everybody assumes you already know it. I am Dr. Reshmi R. Nair, an applied linguist from Kerala. I have taught hundreds of learners to speak Malayalam as it is actually spoken. THREE VERBS FOR EATING കഴിക്കുക - kazhikkuka - the general, neutral, everyday verb. Also to take, as in medicine. If in doubt, use this one. തിന്നുക - thinnuka - to eat in the sense of chewing: snacks, fruit, food eaten out of hand. Plainer and more physical; careless use of it about a person sounds coarse. ഉണ്ണുക - unnuka - to eat a proper rice meal. The dignified, ceremonial verb. ചോറുണ്ണുക (chorunnuka). THE NOUNS FOLLOW THE SAME SPLIT ഭക്ഷണം - bhakshanam - food in general ഊണ് - oonu - a rice meal, in practice lunch പലഹാരം - palahaaram - a snack or breakfast item കറി - kari - any dish that accompanies rice, wet or dry THE SENTENCE THAT GOVERNS KERALA SOCIAL LIFE ഊണ് കഴിച്ചോ? - oonu kazhicho? - have you eaten? This is not a question about your digestion. It is a greeting, the standard way of expressing care. Answer കഴിച്ചു (kazhichu, I have eaten) or ഇല്ല (illa, no) - and be warned that ഇല്ല is very likely to produce food. BREAKFAST - പ്രാതൽ - praathal പുട്ട് - puttu - steamed rice flour and coconut in a cylinder, with കടല കറി (kadala kari, black chickpeas) ഇടിയപ്പം - idiyappam - string hoppers അപ്പം - appam - fermented rice pancake, soft centre and lace edges, with stew ദോശ / ഇഡ്ഡലി - dosha / idli പത്തിരി - pathiri - the thin Malabar rice flatbread Which of the three eating verbs will you use tonight? Comment below. #LearnMalayalam #Malayalam #KeralaFood