Built for the chai-and-handful ritual you already have.

Not a new ritual. Not a reinvention. Just the namkeen you grew up on, with one quietly important update.

Why Numki

My paternal grandfather used to say, "Everything is good. Everything is bad. Everything is good in moderation." That line has been my compass... in food, in life, in how I build.

Then I lost my other grandfather.

Anna, my maternal grandfather, made life look like an adventure: a laughter's club regular, a power walker who won a medal in his 70s, the guy who left for a stroll and came home with two new friends. The day before he passed, I flew home to India and got to see him one last time. He was gone by midnight.

A few nights later, I woke up at 2am starving. I'd skipped my protein that day. In the dark I started retracing what I'd eaten: coffee, upma, chai, mixture, masala dosa. Almost no protein in any of it.

Indian food is incredible. The protein options for Indian vegetarians are not.

By sunrise, I'd thought up Numki: a protein-packed Indian savory snack that could bring my paternal grandfather's philosophy within reach: moderation, without giving up the foods we grew up on.

With a heart filled with both grandfathers' blessings, I started Numki.

What it actually is

Numki is the only South Asian snack brand that gives you license to indulge in the flavors of your culture without compromising your health goals, because balance was built in from the beginning.

In practice: a protein-forward savory snack mix, flavored with the spices I grew up on. Plant-based protein. Baked, not fried. No seed oils. No added sugar. No lecturing.

Two flavors right now:

• Masala Peanut Mix — the South Indian “Congress Peanuts” you know, finished with curry leaves and crunchy pea-protein crisps. 8g of plant protein per pouch.
• Chatpata Mix — Bombay chaat on-the-go. Green chutney, dried mango, coriander, the whole zingy profile. 6g of plant protein and 15% DV iron per pouch.

Three sizes per flavor: the single-serving pouch (for trial or stashing in your bag), the 50g small resealable bag (the bestseller), and the 220g family-size bag (for the dabba refill). Plus a Variety Pack if you can't decide.

Built by a family

Hi, I'm Shruthi, founder of Numki, new mom, and military spouse. I started this company with my mom and dad because I wanted them, and people like them, to live healthier without giving up the flavors we grew up on.

I've always lived in a blended world, preferring “AND” instead of “OR” — Indian and American, artistic and technical, goofy and poised. Numki is the snack version of that.

Building this has been personal for me too. As a vegetarian, I've spent years figuring out what protein-aware eating actually looks like in practice, and that experience is part of why Numki exists in this form. I drove out to give a mentor a Numki sample on a Monday. I gave birth on Friday. (I also handed samples out at my own baby shower, using the opportunity to officially announce our "business baby," partly out of love, partly because a founder is always a founder.)

The team. My mom is our COO and the reason Numki is a snack mix instead of the crunchy protein bar I was trying to engineer. My dad is our CFO, with deep-seated knowledge in managing startups, keeping us fiscally lean. Mom shapes what's in the bag. Dad shapes what's on the books. I can be a bit “pie in the sky”; they ground me.

Who we built it for. The product was designed for people like my dad and my mother-in-law: savory-over-sweet, and quietly frustrated that almost every protein snack on the market leans dessert-flavored. If you've ever stared at a sweet protein bar and wished it were spicy and crunchy instead, you're who we built this for.

Woman- and military-spouse-owned. Made in small batches. Iterated honestly.

Where we've been

Numki has shown up in some of our favorite places this past year:

• Milna Market — a 60+ vendor South Asian–owned business market in Brooklyn (May 2026)
• Saree Run USA — VIP swag bags for South Asian women runners (April 2026)
• Holi rooftop NYC — fueling the color-throwers between rounds (March 2026)
• Pitara Coffee × The Canteen apartment café — Jersey City supper club with Karnataka-grown coffee and our namkeen (January 2026)
• PYO Chai x Sajna Space's The Chai Games  — an afternoon of South Asian–coded games in Astoria, Queens (January 2026)
• Mohan Matchmaking Mixer  — no better match than sampling South Asian mixtures at a South Asian mixer (December 2025)

If you’re hosting something (a fitness class, a Diwali party, a wedding, a women’s group, a pop-up, a networking event) and you want Numki samples in the swag bag, we’d love to be there.

Everything in moderation.

You grew up with the flavors you love. You've also built goals you care about. But you also know there’s a more balanced way to do it.

Numki is the snack that lives in the 'and,' built around balance from the beginning.

We didn't set out to make a better namkeen. We set out to build the snack for people who don't want to pick a side.

"Everything in moderation." - Shruthi's grandpa