What is the correct word

Arts & Culture Culture, Arts, Literature & Linguistics
1

Doodh ki Balai or Doodh ki Malai?

Is there any difference in Balai and Malai? :hmmm:

2

Re: What is the correct word

balai is urdu i think......malai is punjabi may be....:S

3

Re: What is the correct word

Yes Malai is Punjabi and Balai is in Urdu

4

Re: What is the correct word

But they use both words here in Karachi... probably many Milk shops are owned by Punjabi Community, because they always use Malai for this.. Every time I go to buy Dahi and asked for that without balai, the shopkeeper repeats 'without Malai'?

But we have Malai Kofta, Rus Malai type dishes too.. which are probably not from Punjabi origin. So Malai can't be said typical Punjabi word.

5

Here in marathi,urdu we use malai I never heard balai.may be in classic and pure urdu you call it balai.

6

Re: What is the correct word

May be a person from Lucknow or Delhi can explain. There is also a connected issue with this. Some people use 'Khatta Dahi' and some say 'Khatti Dahi'.

7

Re: What is the correct word

Oh yaar aithay sanu match vi payi a tusi apni malai balai layi hui a :mad:

8

Re: What is the correct word

Match ki jo surat e haal hai uss ke baad aap se khana to khaya nahin jae ga, malai / balai wala doodh pee lejiye ga :snooty:

Aur haan sotay waqt ye gana zaroor suniye ga:

9

Re: What is the correct word

Anyone, knows difference between Balai & Malai?

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Re: What is the correct word

Peace muqawwee123

I always thought that balai is the Urdu variant of the word bhaley - which is from dahi bhaley ... it is a savoury dish where chickpea flour balls are deep fried and soaked in yoghurt. Malai means cream and is typical to the sweet dish ras malai ...

I think people have gradually taken balai to mean just something round and ball like and hence they have started interchanging the name malai with balai ...

i think balai is a reference to the shape whereas malai is a reference to the ingredient - i.e. milk, cream or milky/creamy ...

This is my guess ...

11

Re: What is the correct word

Changa honda match vaikhan di jaggah assi vi malai balai de chakran de vich phassay honday, ya MQM da jalsa hi waikh laynday…

I thought malai and balai are same, you can either use balai or malai.

12

Re: What is the correct word

But isn't balai mean 'something on top'.. as we say Balai Punjab - Upper Punjab... and as the Malai came up on top of the milk while boiling, its also called Balai.

So seems that Balai and Malai are same thing.

13

Re: What is the correct word

^ Yes Balai literally means 'the top layer' .. just like in places like Lucknow, attic of the house is still called Bala Khana.

14

Re: What is the correct word

Yes.. I remember Ilyas Sita Puri’s ‘Bala Khane ki Dulhan’ :hehe:

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Re: What is the correct word

Balai is Urdu, Malai is used in Punjabi as well as Hindi. I don’t know which other languages use the same word.

And as TLK, rightly pointed out, balai literally means the ‘upper layer’, in this context the upper layer of milk.

Psyah, your definition cracked me up:rotfl:

16

Re: What is the correct word

I have a feeling that Malai comes from Mulaa'em (soft). Balai has different meaning but used in the same context. and the fact that they both rhymes, we probably thought them as changed pronunciation of the same word

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Re: What is the correct word

balai? im hearing it for the first time ever…cnt be urdu :snooty:.

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Re: What is the correct word

^ You are right, its Italian.

19

Re: What is the correct word

ho sakta hai, mainu ki :hoonh:

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Re: What is the correct word

when you eat so much malai that your sinuses are clogged, you say bah bah kya balai hai boss..