Kala namak

Last updated

Black salt
Black Salt (crystals).jpg
Large pieces of Kala Namak
Alternative namesKala Namak
Region or stateSouth Asia, Himalayan regions

Kala namak or black salt is a kiln-fired rock salt with a sulphurous, pungent smell used in the Indian subcontinent. It is also known as "Himalayan black salt", Sulemani namak, bit noon, bire noon, bit loona, bit lobon, kala loon, sanchal, kala meeth, guma loon, or pada loon, and is manufactured from the salts mined in the regions surrounding the Himalayas.

Contents

The condiment is composed largely of sodium chloride, with several other components lending the salt its colour and smell. The smell is mainly due to its sulfur content. Because of the presence of greigite (Fe3S4, Iron(II,III) sulfide) in the mineral, it forms brownish-pink to dark violet translucent crystals when whole. When ground into a powder, its colour ranges from purple to pink.

Kala namak has been praised in Ayurveda and used for its perceived medical qualities. [1] [2]

Production

The raw material for producing Kala Namak was originally obtained from natural halite from mines in Northern India in certain locations of the Himalayas, [3] [4] salt harvested from the North Indian salt lakes of Sambhar or Didwana. [5]

Traditionally, the salt was transformed from its relatively colourless raw natural forms into the dark coloured commercially sold kala namak through a reductive chemical process that transforms some of the naturally occurring sodium sulfate of the raw salt into pungent hydrogen sulfide and sodium sulfide. [6] This involves firing the raw salts in a kiln or furnace for 24 hours while sealed in a ceramic jar with charcoal along with small quantities of harad seeds, amla, bahera, babul bark, or natron. [5] [6] The fired salt melts, the chemical reaction occurs, and the salt is then cooled, stored, and aged prior to sale. [7] [3] Kala namak is prepared in this manner in northern India with production concentrated in Hisar district, Haryana. [6] The salt crystals appear black and are usually ground to a fine powder that is purple.

Although the Kala Namak may have traditionally been chemically produced from impure deposits of salt (sodium chloride) with the required chemicals (small quantities of sodium sulfate, sodium bisulfate and ferric sulfate) and charcoal in a furnace it is now common to simply add the required chemicals to pure salt before firing. Reportedly, it is also possible to create similar products through reductive heat treatment of salt, 5–10% of sodium carbonate, sodium sulfate, and some sugar. [6]

Composition

Kala namak consists primarily of sodium chloride and trace impurities of sodium sulfate, [8] [9] sodium bisulfate, sodium bisulfite, sodium sulfide, iron sulfide and hydrogen sulfide.

Sodium chloride provides kala namak with its salty taste, iron sulfide provides its dark violet hue, and all the sulfur compounds give kala namak its slight savory taste as well as a highly distinctive smell, with hydrogen sulfide being the most prominent contributor to the smell. The acidic bisulfates/bisulfites contribute a mildly sour taste. [4] Although hydrogen sulfide is toxic in high concentrations, the amount present in kala namak used in food is small and thus its effects on health are negligible. [4]

Uses

Powdered kala namak Black salt.jpg
Powdered kala namak

Kala namak is used extensively in South Asian cuisines of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal as a condiment or added to chaats, chutneys, salads, fruit, raitas and many other savory snacks. Chaat masala, a South Asian spice blend, is dependent upon black salt for its characteristic sulfurous egg-like aroma. Those who are not accustomed to black salt often describe the smell as resembling flatulence. [1] Black salt is sometimes used sparingly as a topping for fruits or snacks in North India and Pakistan.

Kala Namak is sometimes applied to tofu in vegan egg recipes. [10]

Kala namak is considered a cooling spice in Ayurveda and is used as a laxative and digestive aid. [3] [8] [9] [11] It is also been noted to relieve flatulence and heartburn. [12] It is used in Jammu to cure goitres. [11] This salt is also used to treat hysteria and for making toothpastes by combining it with other mineral and plant ingredients. [3] The uses for goitre and hysteria are dubious. Goitre, due to dietary iodine deficiency, would not be remedied unless iodide was present in the natural salt. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration warned a manufacturer of dietary supplements, including one consisting of Himalayan salt, to discontinue marketing the products using unproven claims of health benefits. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

In chemistry, a salt is a chemical compound consisting of an ionic assembly of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, which results in a compound with no net electric charge. A common example is table salt, with positively charged sodium ions and negatively charged chloride ions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrogen sulfide</span> Poisonous, corrosive and flammable gas

Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula H2S. It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is poisonous, corrosive, and flammable, with trace amounts in ambient atmosphere having a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. The underground mine gas term for foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide-rich gas mixtures is stinkdamp. Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele is credited with having discovered the chemical composition of purified hydrogen sulfide in 1777. The British English spelling of this compound is hydrogen sulphide, a spelling no longer recommended by the Royal Society of Chemistry or the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sodium carbonate</span> Chemical compound

Sodium carbonate is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2CO3 and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield alkaline solutions in water. Historically, it was extracted from the ashes of plants grown in sodium-rich soils, and because the ashes of these sodium-rich plants were noticeably different from ashes of wood, sodium carbonate became known as "soda ash". It is produced in large quantities from sodium chloride and limestone by the Solvay process, as well as by carbonating sodium hydroxide which is made using the Chlor-alkali process.

The compound hydrogen chloride has the chemical formula HCl and as such is a hydrogen halide. At room temperature, it is a colourless gas, which forms white fumes of hydrochloric acid upon contact with atmospheric water vapor. Hydrogen chloride gas and hydrochloric acid are important in technology and industry. Hydrochloric acid, the aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride, is also commonly given the formula HCl.

The Leblanc process was an early industrial process for making soda ash used throughout the 19th century, named after its inventor, Nicolas Leblanc. It involved two stages: making sodium sulfate from sodium chloride, followed by reacting the sodium sulfate with coal and calcium carbonate to make sodium carbonate. The process gradually became obsolete after the development of the Solvay process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethanethiol</span> Chemical compound

Ethanethiol, commonly known as ethyl mercaptan, is an organosulfur compound with the formula CH3CH2SH. is a colorless liquid with a distinct odor. Abbreviated EtSH, it consists of an ethyl group (Et), CH3CH2, attached to a thiol group, SH. Its structure parallels that of ethanol, but with sulfur in place of oxygen. The odor of EtSH is infamous. Ethanethiol is more volatile than ethanol due to a diminished ability to engage in hydrogen bonding. Ethanethiol is toxic in high concentrations. It occurs naturally as a minor component of petroleum, and may be added to otherwise odorless gaseous products such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to help warn of gas leaks. At these concentrations, ethanethiol is not harmful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sodium sulfate</span> Chemical compound with formula Na2SO4

Sodium sulfate (also known as sodium sulphate or sulfate of soda) is the inorganic compound with formula Na2SO4 as well as several related hydrates. All forms are white solids that are highly soluble in water. With an annual production of 6 million tonnes, the decahydrate is a major commodity chemical product. It is mainly used as a filler in the manufacture of powdered home laundry detergents and in the Kraft process of paper pulping for making highly alkaline sulfides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barium chloride</span> Chemical compound

Barium chloride is an inorganic compound with the formula BaCl2. It is one of the most common water-soluble salts of barium. Like most other water-soluble barium salts, it is a white powder, highly toxic, and imparts a yellow-green coloration to a flame. It is also hygroscopic, converting to the dihydrate BaCl2·2H2O, which are colourless crystals with a bitter salty taste. It has limited use in the laboratory and industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potassium sulfate</span> Chemical compound

Potassium sulfate (US) or potassium sulphate (UK), also called sulphate of potash (SOP), arcanite, or archaically potash of sulfur, is the inorganic compound with formula K2SO4, a white water-soluble solid. It is commonly used in fertilizers, providing both potassium and sulfur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bisulfide</span> Inorganic anion containing one sulfur and one hydrogen atoms

Bisulfide is an inorganic anion with the chemical formula HS. It contributes no color to bisulfide salts, and its salts may have a distinctive putrid smell. It is a strong base. Bisulfide solutions are corrosive and attack the skin.

Classical qualitative inorganic analysis is a method of analytical chemistry which seeks to find the elemental composition of inorganic compounds. It is mainly focused on detecting ions in an aqueous solution, therefore materials in other forms may need to be brought to this state before using standard methods. The solution is then treated with various reagents to test for reactions characteristic of certain ions, which may cause color change, precipitation and other visible changes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaat</span> Savory Indian-originated snack

Chaat, or chāt is a family of savoury snacks that originated in India, typically served as an hors d'oeuvre or at roadside tracks from stalls or food carts across South Asia in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. With its origins in Uttar Pradesh, India, chaat has become immensely popular in the rest of South Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sodium bisulfate</span> Chemical compound

Sodium bisulfate, also known as sodium hydrogen sulfate, is the sodium salt of the bisulfate anion, with the molecular formula NaHSO4. Sodium bisulfate is an acid salt formed by partial neutralization of sulfuric acid by an equivalent of sodium base, typically in the form of either sodium hydroxide (lye) or sodium chloride (table salt). It is a dry granular product that can be safely shipped and stored. The anhydrous form is hygroscopic. Solutions of sodium bisulfate are acidic, with a 1M solution having a pH of slightly below 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sodium sulfide</span> Chemical compound

Sodium sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula Na2S, or more commonly its hydrate Na2S·9H2O. Both the anhydrous and the hydrated salts in pure crystalline form are colorless solids, although technical grades of sodium sulfide are generally yellow to brick red owing to the presence of polysulfides and commonly supplied as a crystalline mass, in flake form, or as a fused solid. They are water-soluble, giving strongly alkaline solutions. When exposed to moist air, Na2S and its hydrates emit hydrogen sulfide, an extremely toxic, flammable and corrosive gas which smells like rotten eggs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calcium bisulfite</span> Chemical compound

Calcium bisulfite is an inorganic compound which is the salt of a calcium cation and a bisulfite anion. It may be prepared by treating lime with an excess of sulfur dioxide and water. As a food additive it is used as a preservative under the E number E227. Calcium bisulfite is an acid salt and behaves like an acid in aqueous solution. It is used in the sulfite process for producing paper from wood chips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sodium bifluoride</span> Chemical compound

Sodium bifluoride is the inorganic compound with the formula Na[HF2]. It is a salt of sodium cation and bifluoride anion. It is a white, water-soluble solid that decomposes upon heating. Sodium bifluoride is non-flammable, hygroscopic, and has a pungent smell. Sodium bifluoride has a number of applications in industry.

Rubidium hydrogen sulfate, sometimes referred to as rubidium bisulfate, is the half neutralized rubidium salt of sulfuric acid. It has the formula RbHSO4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thursday salt</span> Type of Salt associated with Easter in Russia

Thursday salt, also known as Black salt is a kind of salt made on Maundy Thursday.

References

  1. 1 2 Moorjani, Lachu (2005), Ajanta: Regional feast of India, Gibbs Smith, p. 22, ISBN   978-1-58685-777-6
  2. Case, Frances (6 June 2008), 1001 Foods You Must Eat Before You Die , Cassell Illustrated, ISBN   978-1-84403-612-7
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bitterman, Mark (2010), Salted:A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes, Random House of Canada, pp. 166–167
  4. 1 2 3 Vorkommen von Schwefelwasserstoff in "Schwarzsalz" (PDF), Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR), 25 August 2003
  5. 1 2 Chandrashekhar, D (22 February 1977), Maqsood Mohammad vs The State Of Uttar Pradesh And Anr. on 22 February 1977, Allahabad High Court
  6. 1 2 3 4 Chandra, S (18 February 1970), Commissioner, Sales Tax vs Balwant Singh Jag Roshan Lal on 18 February 1970, Allahabad High Court
  7. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : Sher Ali Tiwana (5 December 2016), How black salt is made on big scale , retrieved 12 February 2019
  8. 1 2 Ali, Z. A. (August 1999), "Folk veterinary medicine in Moradabad District (Uttar Pradesh), India", Fitoterapia, 70 (4): 340–347, doi:10.1016/S0367-326X(99)00039-8
  9. 1 2 Sadhale, Nalini; Nene, Y L (2004), "On Elephants in Manasollasa – 2. Diseases and Treatment", Asian Agri-History, 8 (2): 115–127
  10. Aujla, Rupy. "Tofu scramble recipe".
  11. 1 2 Aggarwal, Hemla; Kotwal, Nidhi (2009), "Foods Used as Ethno-medicine in Jammu", Studies on Ethno-Medicine, 3 (1): 65–68, doi:10.1080/09735070.2009.11886340, S2CID   56232276
  12. "Health Benefits of Black Salt". WebMD. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  13. "Inspections, Compliance, Enforcement, and Criminal Investigations Herbs of Light, Inc". Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 18 June 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2018.