What it means
خیار (khiyâr) is the everyday Persian word for cucumber. It is a loanword from Arabic خِيَار (khiyâr), which goes back to Greek. The Arabic form is so deeply embedded in Persian that most speakers treat it as native. In Iranian kitchens and markets no alternative word competes with it. Cucumber appears in salads, alongside grilled kebabs, sliced into yoghurt dishes like ماست و خیار (mâst-o-khiyâr), and eaten raw as a snack with salt. A regional variant worth knowing: in some colloquial dialects a very small cucumber is called خیار قلمی (khiyâr-e qalami), meaning pen-shaped cucumber.
How to use it
- ماست و خیار برای گرما خیلی خوبه. (mâst-o-khiyâr barâye garmâ kheyli khube.) “Yoghurt with cucumber is very good for the heat.”
- یه خیار برام بیار. (ye khiyâr barâm biâr.) “Bring me a cucumber.”
- سالاد شیرازی خیار، گوجه، پیاز داره. (sâlâd-e shirâzi khiyâr, gojeh, piyâz dâre.) “Shirazi salad has cucumber, tomato, and onion.”
- خیار قلمی خیلی تازهست، بگیر. (khiyâr-e qalami kheyli tâze-st, begir.) “The mini cucumbers are very fresh, buy some.”
Cultural note
ماست و خیار (mâst-o-khiyâr), a chilled dip of yoghurt, grated or diced cucumber, dried mint, and sometimes garlic or raisins, is one of the most familiar Persian side dishes and appears at almost every Iranian table in summer. It is simple enough to make daily and cool enough to balance spiced meats or rice dishes. Cucumber is also a common ingredient in سالاد شیرازی (sâlâd-e shirâzi), the finely diced salad from Shiraz that is now served nationwide. Hawkers at Tehran’s bazaars still sell whole cucumbers lightly salted as a street snack, a custom that goes back generations.