ماهی

What it means

ماهی (mâhi) is “fish.” Pure Persian, A1 priority. The plural is ماهی‌ها (mâhi-hâ). It also doubles as the word for the zodiac sign Pisces (ماهی, the fish in astrology).

Note the homophone collision: ماه (mâh) is “month” or “moon,” and ماهی (mâhi) is “fish.” The ی at the end of mâhi is part of the word, not a possessive marker. New learners sometimes confuse them.

How to use it

• ماهی قزل آلا (mâhi-ye qezel-âlâ) “trout”
• ماهی سفید (mâhi-ye sefid) “white fish” (Caspian whitefish)
• ماهی کبابی (mâhi-ye kabâbi) “grilled fish”
• ماهی‌گیری (mâhi-giri) “fishing”
• ماهی فروشی (mâhi-forushi) “fish shop”

Mahi-sefid and the Nowruz table

The Iranian New Year (Nowruz, March 21) has a traditional first-meal that nearly every Iranian family follows: سبزی پلو با ماهی (sabzi polo bâ mâhi), “herbed rice with fish.” The herbs (parsley, dill, cilantro, chives) symbolize the green renewal of spring. The fish symbolizes life, fertility, and the year ahead.

The fish of choice is ماهی سفید (mâhi-ye sefid), Caspian whitefish, traditionally caught in the southern Caspian off the coasts of Gilan and Mazandaran. Other species (trout, salmon, sea bass) substitute when whitefish is unavailable. The dish is plated with the fish whole or in steaks alongside the green rice, and it is one of the most photographed Iranian dishes in the diaspora.

The Nowruz fish meal is so cultural that even Iranian families who don’t otherwise cook traditional food make sabzi polo bâ mâhi for the new year. It is the language of belonging.

Caviar and the Caspian sturgeon

The Caspian Sea is the source of the world’s most prized caviar, harvested from sturgeon species (especially beluga, osetra, and sevruga) that have lived in those waters for tens of millions of years. Iranian خاویار (khâviâr, caviar) was for decades the global benchmark. Overfishing, ecological pressure on the Caspian, and political shifts have complicated the industry, but Iranian khâviâr is still produced and exported, with farmed sturgeon now joining the wild catch.

The word خاویار is itself a Persian export that traveled into European languages through trade.

Mnemonic

MAHI → ماهی. Picture a whole mâhi-sefid laid on green rice for Nowruz, dill scattered across the plate, families sitting down at the haft-sin.