Traditional snack 'Sakinalu' makes Sankranthi cherishable
A woman preparing Telangana's favourite tasty 'Sakinala' in Karimnagar.
Karimnagar: As Sankranthi arrives womenfolk in every house of Telangana gets ready to prepare their favourite delicacy 'Sakinala' the traditional snack.
Though there are many traditional sweets and savouries, the preparation of Sakinalu marks the festival above all savouries. The women in erstwhile Karimnagar district get busy preparing Sakinalu, the crispy snack unique to the Telangana
Giving details of ingredients and procedure for making the delicacy, Rudra Radha of Karimnagar (Kothapalli) said freshly harvested rice, ajwain (vamu) and gingelly seeds (nuvvulu) are used to prepare Sakinalu much loved by persons of all age groups, old and young, men and women.
Explaining the process she said the rice is first soaked in water for a few hours, dried and made into flour at the flour mill. The flour is then mixed with ajwain and gingelly seeds and made into a thick dough.
It takes much patience and time to mould dough into various shapes, mostly circular. The dough rings on a plain cotton cloth for some to dry. The rings are then deep-fried in oil and served with chutney made of green chillies.
Having a long shelf-life, sakinalu can be eaten days after the festival is over, Swapna noted. She informed that residents in Karimnagar join together to make this traditional savoury. Those who have their kin abroad send them to them as far as the USA,Canada, UK, Australia etc countries.
Preparing Sakinalu is not an easy task. But women love to spend their time and energy in making the traditional Sankranthi snack as it gives them immense happiness. The happiness doubles when we share them with family members, relatives and neighbours", said Akinapalli Sridevi, a resident of Bank Colony in Karimnagar.
Explaining the benefits of Sakinalu she said it is a healthy food and keeps the body warm during the winter season. Though many prefer to purchase Sakinalu and Areselu, a mixture of rice flour with jaggery from homemade food centres, I like to prepare them on my own, Sridevi said.