m7ammer محمر
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“m7ammer” (محمر) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning roasted, browned (cooked dish).
Meanings
- roasted, browned (cooked dish)
- reddened, turned red
Usage
M7ammer mainly describes meat or poultry cooked until browned, often in a reduced sauce: "djej m7ammer", "l7am m7ammer". It is a very common home-cooking term. It is related to the verb 7ammer (to brown, to sear). Literally, it can also mean "reddened", for example a face or skin marked by the sun. It agrees: m7ammra in the feminine. An English speaker might think "red", but in cooking the expected sense is "browned, roasted".
Example
اليوم طيّبت دجاج محمّر بالبطاطا
lyoum tayabt djej m7ammer bel batata
“Today I made roasted chicken with potatoes.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “m7ammer” but also “mhammer”, “m7amer” and “m7amar”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “m7ammer” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “roasted, browned (meat, poultry)”; “golden-fried, oven-browned”: m7emmer in Moroccan.