The Sanskrit word cited as cognate with falāfil’s source word is pippalī, meaning “long pepper.” The connection belongs to the dish’s debated word history rather than proving that the recipe itself came from India.
Arabic falāfil is commonly explained as the plural of filfil, “pepper,” borrowed from Persian felfel. Persian felfel is considered cognate with Sanskrit pippalī, reflecting an older network of related words for pepper that passed among neighboring languages.
The etymology is not completely settled. Another proposal traces the Arabic term through an earlier form related to Aramaic pilpāl, meaning “small round thing” or “peppercorn,” from a root associated with being round or rolling. Thus pippalī is the specific Sanskrit cognate cited in the standard account, while the larger origin of the word remains debated.