HYDERABAD: The vegetarian snacks from the Gujarati cuisine have always been popular in Hyderabad, with items like dhokla, dabeli, and khandvi readily available in quite a few locations in the city. But an economical Gujarati thali is hard to find with only a handful of places offering homely food from that state. Tucked inside a quiet bylane of Jaihind Enclave in Madhapur, Savla’s Home Food is one of the places serving home-style Gujarati thalis to the food lovers of the area.
Two decades ago Rajiv Savla had migrated to Hyderabad from Kutch and set up a garment business in Ameerpet. His wife’s passion for cooking led him to the catering business, which resulted in setting up this small outlet in Madhapur. The place can accommodate about 30 people, as the lunchtime approaches. The main attractions here are the Gujarati vegetarian thalis, where one can choose between phulkas, theplas, or parathas along with Gujarati dal, couple of curries, papad, farsan, and buttermilk. The phulkas laden with pure ghee and the three different chutneys from the chutney platter add to the taste of the food. While the simple thali is available for `100, you can add special side dishes to it from the items mentioned on the display board at an additional charge.
The mixed vegetable delicacy undhiyu is mostly preferred for this, while shrikhand or dudhi halwa is popular with dessert lovers. You can decide to skip the meal altogether and gorge on sabudana khichdi, dry kachori or Kaman dhokla from the a-la-carte list. The place is open only for lunch and dinner for weekdays. On Sunday, a special thali is served in the afternoon which includes some snack items and sweets too. The popularity of this thali draws in a lot of crowd.
Rajiv says that their clientele has grown due to favourable word-of-mouth. The food delivery providers have also enhanced the business accounting more than half of it currently. Savla’s have an option for Jain food too, where ginger, garlic, and potato are not used in the meal. During Navratri, Janmashtami and Maha Shivratri they also serve food which is preferred by persons fasting such as sabudana khichdi, and puris made from Rajgira flour. While quite a large number of his customers are Gujaratis, the place is a hit with North Indians and even a few local vegetarians. Recently, they have also started paying guest accommodation close to the restaurant accommodating about forty people mainly from Gujarat.
Sabyasachi is a food enthusiast and blogs at www.foodaholix.in