Чёрная гималайская соль: состав, свойства и применение.

Kiln fired rock salt from South Asia

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. 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.

The raw material for producing Kala Namak was originally obtained from natural halite from mines in Northern India in certain locations of the Himalayas, salt harvested from the North Indian salt lakes of Sambhar or Didwana. 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. 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. 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. 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. Kala namak is considered a cooling spice in Ayurveda and is used as a laxative and digestive aid. It is used in Jammu to cure goitres. This salt is also used to treat hysteria and for making toothpastes by combining it with other mineral and plant ingredients.