paistamalla

Paistamalla is a Finnish verb form used to express method or means, literally “by frying.” It is the adverbial participle (gerund) of the verb paistaa, which means to fry or roast. The form is used to connect clauses and to describe how an action is performed, especially in cooking instructions and procedural texts. In practice, paistamalla indicates that the following action is done by means of frying.

The form is derived from the stem paista- by adding the suffix -malla and is invariant for person and number; the subject is understood from context. Example: Paistamalla sipulit ensin saat kullanruskean värin. Paistamalla lihaa nopeasti saat pinnan ruskistumaan. In these sentences the subject is implicit (you) or supplied by the surrounding text.

In Finnish, paistamalla can appear alongside other adverbial forms to specify timing or sequence, and it is common in recipes, guides, and descriptive writing. Related forms include paistaminen (the act of frying) and paistettu (fried). The -malla construction shares its function with other instrumental adverbials such as käyttämällä (by using) or tekemällä (by doing).