mahchi محشي
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“mahchi” (محشي) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning stuffed (vegetable, meat).
Meanings
- stuffed (vegetable, meat)
- dish of stuffed vegetables
Usage
Mahchi describes food filled with a stuffing, usually minced meat, rice, parsley and spices. It goes after the noun: felfel mahchi (stuffed peppers), batata mahchia. It agrees in gender, with mahchia as the feminine. Used alone, el mahchi means the dish of stuffed vegetables cooked in sauce, very common in home cooking and at celebrations. The word is everyday and neutral in register. The same adjective is also used more broadly for a filled bread or sandwich, as in khobz mahchi.
Example
ماما طيبت محشي بالرز واللحم
mama tayyebet mahchi bel rouz wel lham
“Mum made stuffed vegetables with rice and meat.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mahchi” but also “ma7chi”, “mahshi”, “m7achi” and “ma7shi”. 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.