ma9li مقلي
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“ma9li” (مقلي) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning fried.
Meanings
- fried
Usage
Ma9li is the passive participle of the verb qla (to fry). It describes food cooked in oil: 3dham ma9li (fried egg), 7out ma9li (fried fish), batata ma9lia (fries). It agrees in gender and number: ma9lia in the feminine, ma9lyin in the plural. It is often heard when ordering at a café or restaurant and in recipes. Depending on the region, it is pronounced ma9li, mi9li or magli. For fries, the French word frites is also very common. Outside a culinary context, the adjective is rarely used.
Example
نحب حوت مقلي مع شوية سلاطة
n7eb 7out ma9li m3a chwaya slata
“I'd like fried fish with a little salad.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ma9li” but also “mi9li”, “magli”, “makli” and “maqli”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.
Type “ma9li” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “fried, cooked in oil”: m9li in Moroccan.