Over the past 2 years of being vegan, and learning more about cooking without all my old crutches, I’ve discovered some really interesting ingredients that I didn’t know about, since I didn’t really need them. Sometimes, trying to describe these things to friends can be a little difficult without some background. I thought a nice addition to the blog would be to occasionally write about some of these ingredients and how to use them.
The first entry in this series deals with Indian Black Salt (Kala Namak.)
I first encountered this salt when surfing some recipe blogs and reading about tofu egg salad, fritatas, etc. The salt was described as having a very strong odor that smells alot like eggs. I ordered The Spice Lab’s Himalayan Black Crystal Salt
As you can read about in the Wikipedia entry, the salt smells very eggy because of its high sulfur content. The raw salt contains sodium sulphate which is chemically transformed into hydrogen sulfide and sodium sulfide. Normally, these are compouds you wouldn’t want to eat (or breathe) but the quantity in the salt is too tiny to worry about. These are the same chemicals which make boiled eggs stinky the next day when you open them for breakfast at the office, and make your co-workers think you just passed gas.
As you can imagine, this is a very useful ingredient. One of the things I used to love before I went vegan was egg salad sandwiches. Using tofu, Vegenaise, mustard and black salt, I was able to create “egg salad” that a couple of guys at work agreed was hard to differentiate from the “real thing.”
|
Rate this recipe!
|
|
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 4Sandwiches | 10Minutes |
|
|
|
Tofu "Egg" Salad
This tastes almost exactly like classic egg salad. You can also use chickpea tofu for this if you chop it up into small chunks, but the consistency will be alot firmer than soy tofu.
|
- 1Package (14-16oz) Firm TofuDrained and pressed
- 2Tablespoons VegenaiseOther vegan mayo substitutes should work fine too
- 2Teaspoons Yellow Mustard
- 1Teaspoon Indian Black Salt
- Black PepperTo taste
- 1/4cup Diced OnionOptional
- 1/4cup Diced CeleryOptional
- Break up the tofu with your hands into a large bowl, into small chunks.
- Add all other ingredients. Stir and smash with a fork until everything is combined well.
- Taste for salt and pepper and adjust as needed to fit your own taste, using the Indian Black Salt instead of your normal salt.
- Serve on bread as sandwiches or just eat it out of the bowl, either is fine. 🙂
I’ve also used the black salt in other recipes that benefit from a little egg flavor, including fried rice, and fresh pasta. I use it in my vegan cornbread to replace the normal salt. I’ve also made Chaat Masala which is an interesting Indian spice blend that has tons of uses (more on the Indian cooking later!)
