Women, seated in a row, at an arm’s distance from one another, shape sakinalu with practiced ease — ring after ring, coil after coil. Each woman has a portion of the smooth rice flour dough beside her. With a deft pinch using thumb, index, and middle finger, they roll the dough into thin strands, curling them into perfect spirals. This is an everyday scene at the Sreedevi Swagruha warehouse in Nacharam, Hyderabad. The brand that has become synonymous with Telugu pindi vantakalu (traditional Telugu sweets and savouries). The primary ingredient for all the savouries is rice flour.
For many in Telangana, any event in a family, irrespective of the size, is incomplete without snacks like sakinalu, sarvapindi, chegodi and ariselu from Sreedevi Swagruha Foods, Telangana Pindi Vantakalu. Their largest outlet is at HMT Nagar in Nacharam.
Women at the Sreedevi Swagruha Foods workshop in Nacharam.
| Photo Credit:
Siddhant Thakur
The brand, which now operates from the three floors of a warehouse, made its beginning as a home business in 1998. In the house of Vangapalli Savithramma who took to making these snacks and catering to small orders. The sakinalu became so popular that she earned the moniker Sakinalu Savithramma. All this without attending any start-up masterclass. She also probably isn’t aware that start-ups are a buzzword today.
Tweny seven years later, at 83, Savithramma still visits the factory occasionally. When she is in the factory, she joins the women to prepare snacks.
Vangapally Savithramma of Sreedevi Swagruha Foods.
| Photo Credit:
Siddhant Thakur
Hailing from Jagtiyal, near Karimnagar, Savithramma’s family shifted to Hyderabad when her husband, who was a contractor, sought better opportunities. Savithramma said, “On a random day, I just decided to make some snacks because someone wanted sakinalu. It is a traditional Telangana snack and we would make it home on all festivals. Growing up, I would see these snacks being prepared at every festival in our home. I would join them in making whatever was being prepared. That’s how most traditional sweets and snacks are learnt at home isn’t it?”
Inside the Sreedevi Swagruha Foods workshop.
| Photo Credit:
Siddhant Thakur
The snack brand is popular for another Telangana snack — Sarvapindi. As orders started coming in, her daughter-in-law V Renuka joined her. Within a couple of years what started with just two individuals turned into a family of nearly 100 employees.
“Initially we would take orders and send it over through someone, or people would collect it from my house. We used to grind everything in a small mixer grinder, producing two kilograms daily. As orders grew, we kept expanding. We shifted to a shop in the same building where we were staying. Within two years Sreedevi Swagruha Foods, Telangana Pindi Vantakalu was set up at HMT Nagar,” she recollects.
The making of sakinalu.
| Photo Credit:
Siddhant Thakur
They decided to dedicate the brand name to a Goddess. “My daughter-in-law managed the shop and the counter. She would be there from the time it opens, so people started calling her Sreedevi amma,” adds Savithramma with a smile.
As the brand grew, they decided to shift to a 15,000 sq.ft state-of-the-art facility in the industrial area at Nacharam. Nearly 500 kilograms of snacks are prepared here each day. Talking about the expansion journey, she says, “Our growth was never about marketing; it was the trust our customers placed in us. We became a part of every festival and wedding, which made us more responsible with our products. We continue to buy raw material from the same vendors we did business with from day one. And we keep our utensils separate. No two snacks are fried in the same oil or kadhai. We also do not reuse oil. This keeps our snacks fresh for a longer time.”
Savithramma also takes pride in mentioning that “65 of our employees have been with us for over 25 years. It is their collaboration. We have experts in every snack we prepare, including laddoos.”
Inside the warehouse, it was not just the preparation of snacks that I witnessed. The brand has mechanised murukku pressers, and machines knead the dough for various snacks. A washing machine and dryer is constantly at work, washing and drying the cloth on which the snacks are laid to set before frying.
Inside the Sreedevi Swagruha Foods workshop.
| Photo Credit:
Siddhant Thakur
Savithramma said she was ridiculed in the beginning. “People in my village said ‘patnam lo poyee pindi vantalu amutava’? (After going to a city, why will you sell snacks?) But I did not pay heed. Some of the Telangana snacks are laborious to make, many people might not have the time or even know how to prepare them. With that thought I went ahead with my idea and I am glad I did. I teach my recipes to all my workers. I believe knowledge shared is knowledge gained. When it is about native recipes, it is best to share to continue the tradition of food.”
The brand also has an e-commerce platform named savithrammas.com. “Going online with savithrammas.com was my grandson Ram Gopal’s idea. He felt the need to make food of Telangana popular by making it easily available to everyone,” added the proud grandmother.
Published – December 05, 2025 08:12 am IST
