What it means
کدو (kadu) is the everyday Persian word for squash and zucchini. It is one of the older vegetable names in the language, with roots in Old Iranian, and has not been borrowed from Arabic or Turkish. In practice, Iranians use کدو on its own to mean zucchini (the long green variety), while specifying کدو حلوایی (kadu-halvâyi) for the orange pumpkin used in sweet dishes and کدو تنبل (kadu-tanbal) for large round squash. The word covers a family of gourds, so context usually clarifies which one is meant.
How to use it
- کدو را خلال کن برای آش. (Kadu ro khalâl kon barâ-ye âsh.) “Julienne the zucchini for the soup.”
- یه کدو حلوایی بزرگ خریدم. (Ye kadu-halvâyi bozorg kharidam.) “I bought a big butternut squash.”
- مرغ با کدو خیلی خوشمزهست. (Morgh bâ kadu kheyli khoshmaze-st.) “Chicken with zucchini is really tasty.”
- کدوها رو بذار توی یخچال. (Kaduhâ ro bezâr tu-ye yakhchâl.) “Put the squash in the fridge.”
Cultural note
Zucchini and squash are everyday vegetables in Iranian home cooking. کدو appears in soups like آش رشته (âsh-e reshte) and in simple sauteed side dishes cooked with eggs and turmeric. The sweet variety, کدو حلوایی, is used in a popular dessert called حلوای کدو (halvâ-ye kadu) and in the filling for some traditional pastries. Pumpkins are also carved and sold in autumn, though this is more common in diaspora communities than inside Iran.