Question: What is "savita"?
By: Moon
Published: July 3, 2010

I have an older cookbook, and one of the recipes calls for 1/2 tsp of "savita".  Anyone know what that refers to?  I have searched all over the interwebs, and came up dry.  TIA!

Answers:
Chris Paulk

There is a medicinal form of Sevita which is basically alfalfa. It helps to alleviate stomach ailments including peptic ulcers, & improves appetite, relieves urinary and bowel disorders, eliminates retained water. Medicago Sevita. What is the recipe for? you can probably successfully substitute parsley, epazote or mint. All three will have somewhat the same taste profile and help with the same medical ailments and give you a similar taste & end product.
Phil

It appears to be like bullion powder?
The joy of cooking has multiple references to it .. one in particular is "add to this 1/2 teaspoon of Savita, or 1 beef cube"  to me meaning that a beef bullion cube was a perfectly acceptable substitute
Searching for "Savita 1931" gave me a few news paper articles of which this one
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yvgoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kmcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6803,1710858&dq=savita+1931&hl=en
It seems to be some seasoning product that was common back in the 1930's.. and was sold as beneficial to ones health.. but has since gone the way of the dodo  probably something as simple as a "house seasoning"  like a combo of salt, garlic powder, pepper, onion powder,  etc etc