What it means
آبکش (âbkesh) is the colander or strainer used to drain pasta, rinse rice, wash herbs, and strain cooked legumes. It is a native Persian compound of آب (âb, water) and کش (kesh, puller or drawer), from the verb کشیدن (keshidan, to pull or draw). The compound means water-drawer or water-puller, describing the function precisely: the tool draws the water away from the food. No borrowed equivalent is in common use. A صافی (sâfi, from Arabic) can mean strainer in a more general or fine-mesh sense, but âbkesh is the standard kitchen colander.
How to use it
- برنج رو بذار توی آبکش. (berenj ro bezâr tuye âbkesh.) “Put the rice in the colander.”
- ماکارونی رو آبکش کن. (mâkâruni ro âbkesh kon.) “Drain the pasta.”
- آبکش کجاست؟ (âbkesh kojâst?) “Where is the colander?”
- سبزی رو با آبکش بشور. (sabzi ro bâ âbkesh beshur.) “Wash the herbs in the colander.”
Cultural note
The âbkesh is a constant presence in Iranian kitchens because many recipes begin with soaking and rinsing: rice is washed several times before cooking, herbs are rinsed in large quantities for kuku sabzi or ghormeh sabzi, and dried legumes are soaked overnight and then drained. The compound-word structure of âbkesh is a good example of how Persian builds kitchen vocabulary from simple native roots rather than borrowing, giving learners a transparent, easy-to-remember term.