Meanings
- uncountableA kind of rock salt with a pungent flavour, used in Indian cuisine.
So, perhaps unsurprisingly, black salt is often used in vegan cooking to impart an egg-like flavour and aroma to your dishes. I love cooking with kala namak, and sometimes use it instead of regular salt, just to add a little more complexity
2019 January 7, Sasha Gill, Jackfruit and Blue Ginger: Asian favourites, made vegan, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN, page 182 more examples
At any rate, kālā namak has the major virtue for Hindus of being permitted during fasts and on ritual occasions in which ordinary or sea salt is forbidden. According to Behura, rock salt is much less used in India since 1947, because the Salt Range is in Pakistan (Behura 1962, p. 133)
1971 July 28, D T Plansip, Heat Stress and Culture in North India, US Army Medical Research and Development Command, page 156In rock form, kala namak is dark purple bordering on black. Ground up fine and seen up close, it is pink bordering on white. But it is pink leaning toward red when sprinkled on food. Kala namak is ancient, sung of in ancient Vedic hymns, and identified by Maharishi Charak, the 300 BCE father of Ayurvedic medicine.
2010 October 19, Mark Bitterman, Salted: A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes, Ten Speed Press, →ISBN, page 308Synonyms: black salt
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA kind of rock salt with a pungent flavour, used in Indian cuisine.
Origin
- Hindiकाला नमक
- Englishkala namak
From Hindi काला नमक (kālā namak, literally “black salt”).
More words from Hindi
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic ملح أسود
- ملح أسودvariety of salt
Bengali বিট লবণ
- বিট লবণ (biṭ lobon)variety of salt
French sel noir
- sel noirvariety of salt
Hindi काला नमक, सैंधव
- काला नमक (kālā namak)variety of salt
- सैंधव (saindhav)variety of salt
- संचल (sañcal)variety of salt
- सौवर्चल (sauvarcal)variety of salt
- विट (viṭ)variety of salt
- साँवर (sā̃var)variety of salt
Punjabi ਕਾਲ਼ਾ ਨਮਕ
- ਕਾਲ਼ਾ ਨਮਕ (kāḷā namak)variety of salt
Spanish sal negra
- sal negravariety of salt
Cite this entry
kala namak. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kala%20namak
“kala namak.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kala%20namak. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kala namak,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kala%20namak.
Source: kala namak on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.