Salt

Salt is famously known as namak, mithu and table salt. Salt is produced in a natural way. Many parts of the world are blessed with the mineral halite and mixed evaporates in salt lakes. Seawater contains a good amount of salt. Sodium chloride or common salt is the chemical compound NaCl.

Salt is one of the basic elements for human body. It is life of the people and we can not survive without the salt. It is truly said, that a human body is a walking, breathing and a salty ocean. Salt is known to every one, it is a fine ground and free-flowing common salt.

Garlic salt, sea salt, fruit salt and Epsom salt are some of the example of this common salt. Every type of salt has its own place and own use in the World’s kitchens. But sea salt is considered as one of the most flavorful salt compare to table salt. The chefs and cooking experts are using sea salt for making variety of world cuisines. It is the most expensive type of salt.

Although there are variety of salt packages available in the market, but ‘TATA’ is the most famous Iodized salt with a maximum freshness. While buying any salt, carefully check the manufacturing and expiry dates, also make sure that the salt is dry and has no moisture at all. It should be free-flowing quality salt.

USES:

1. Sea salt is highly used in ice cream machines.
2. Seasoned salt is nothing but a regular salt that is seasoned with herbs and spices.
3. Pickling salt is used to bring the flavor to the pickle foods.
4. Popcorn salt is used for making simple and colorful flavored popcorn.
5. Recently innovated, that colored salt is used for coloring variety of dishes.
6. Generally in cooking, we use Iodized salt, that contains a little bit of sugar. Iodized salt is an easy way to get the proper nutrients into our diet.
7. Salt can be used to give proper texture to the processed food items.
8. Salt acts as a controlling agent, that can ferment the gluten in breads and other bakery products. It allow the dough to expand without tearing.
9. Salt brings the color, aroma and taste in the food.
10. Salt controls fermentation and helps in making a uniform product.
11. While making the pickles, salt brine gets increased slowly in concentration and reduce the fermentation.
12. Salt is one of the most important reason in promoting the development of color of tasteless and colorless recipes.
13. A pinch of salt do the wonders in the recipes, even a little bit of salt can be added to breads and desserts to enhance the flavors.
14. Salt is to be used sometimes before cooking and sometimes after cooking. For example, the vegetables like cucumbers and eggplant are little bit watery, so here salt is to be added in the beginning, because it pulls the juices out of the vegetables, whereas the vegetables like mushrooms and paneer, etc are to be finished by adding little bit of salt.
15. Never add salt before whipping the egg whites, as it pulls out the moisture and that will not simply increase the whipping time but decrease the volume, texture, and stability.
16. Adding little bit of salt to vegetables and pasta results to a firm texture.
17. In any ways, each and every dish whether it is pulao, curries, gravies, parathas, chutnies, sauces, pickles, breads, etc needs a pinch of salt to get a great color and great flavor.

STORAGE:

1. Salt has a very good shelf life.
2. Salt must be stored in air tight container/jar and special care is to be taken in monsoon.
3. Humidity and moisture can cause salt to clump and stick together.
4. In monsoon you can make the salt free-flowing, just by adding few rice grains in the salt container.

BENEFITS:

1. Salt should be used in moderation and proportion, it can become the reason of hypertension, but if using in balance then there is no harm.
2. Salt works as a great preservative, hence many food items are marinated and frozen with salt and lime juice.
3. Salt helps in stabilizing irregular heartbeats.
4. It helps the kidney to pass excess acidity into the urine.
5. Salt is a great source to eliminate persistent dry coughs and put a dash on the tongue.
6. Salt generates hydroelectric energy in human body cells.
7. It also  stabilizes the irregular heartbeats.
8. Salt is proven best in clearing the mucous plugs and sticky phlegm in the lungs, particularly in asthma and cystic fibrosis.
9. Salt clears the congestion of the sinuses.
10. Salt provides the strong natural antihistamine in the body.
11. Salt is advised during the excess saliva production from the mouth.
12. Now a days, salt is proven best from some medical companies, as they have started making toothpaste that contains salt, which is good for the strong teeth.
13. Mixing some salt in warm water and then gargling is highly recommended treatment for toothache and cough problems. It is a best treatment can be done twice a day until you catch your dentist.