It takes a full day working in temperatures up to 1,000 degrees Celsius to make one batch of Himalayan black salt, or kala namak. The salt was once used as a medicine to treat indigestion. Today, it’s a staple in South Asian cuisine, and it's known for its unique eggy and umami taste. But the long and dangerous process of making it has pushed people away from the craft.
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00:00 (salt thudding)
00:02 Break open this gray sphere,
00:04 and you'll reveal one of India's most popular salts.
00:08 It's called black salt or kala namak.
00:12 Centuries ago, it was used as medicine for digestion.
00:18 Today, the salt is a staple in South Asian cuisine,
00:21 known for its unique eggy and umami taste.
00:25 Workers risk burning their skin
00:27 on a nearly 1,000-degree Celsius kiln
00:31 and spend hours inhaling smoke
00:34 to make it the traditional way.
00:36 But the long and dangerous process
00:40 has pushed people away from the craft.
00:42 Chetak is one of the last factories
00:46 making kala namak this way,
00:48 but it's on the brink of shutting down.
00:52 We went to Lucknow in India
00:56 to see how this black salt is made
00:58 and how, despite the challenges,
01:01 this factory is still standing.
01:03 Even though it's hard to make,
01:08 kala namak is still massively popular
01:11 in South Asian cuisine,
01:13 and it's even finding a home
01:15 in spice blends made in the United States.
01:17 But as workers prepare to cook kala namak,
01:21 they have to fire the kiln
01:23 up to dangerously hot temperatures.
01:26 The high heat damages the kiln over time,
01:29 so they have to rebuild it every year.
01:32 They fill the kiln with cow dung,
01:35 which works as fuel for the fire.
01:38 The Chetak black salt factory
01:40 goes through 5,000 pieces of it every week.
01:43 Workers pour in a layer of coal
01:48 and use burning bicycle tires
01:51 to set everything on fire.
01:55 Sometimes they use diesel,
01:57 but it's more expensive.
01:58 On the other side of the factory,
02:02 workers prepare the parts.
02:03 Shivshankar Prajapati has been making them
02:08 for the factory for the last seven years.
02:11 He learned the tricks of the trade from his father.
02:14 Shivshankar Prajapati: This is our family business.
02:16 My father and my father's family
02:18 have been doing this for a long time.
02:20 We've been doing it since we were 6,000.
02:22 And it's been 70-80 years
02:24 since we've been making kala namak.
02:26 Shiv still uses his family's techniques
02:31 to make the parts completely by hand.
02:34 This potter's wheel relies on the momentum
02:37 from spinning it.
02:39 Shivshankar Prajapati: When we see it,
02:42 we turn it around and look at it.
02:44 Only then will our eyes go to the hole.
02:46 We can't see the hole.
02:48 If we look at it, we can't see it.
02:50 It will come and go.
02:52 Shiv says this step can only be done manually.
02:55 He has to constantly change
02:58 how fast he's spinning the clay
03:00 to get the perfect shape.
03:02 Shivshankar Prajapati: The electronic chucks
03:04 don't do it.
03:06 This wooden tool, called a thappa,
03:10 helps smooth the pot's surface.
03:12 It takes him 18 minutes
03:16 to turn this clump of clay
03:18 into a perfectly round pot.
03:20 Shiv can make 30-35 pots every day.
03:25 Workers add another layer of clay
03:30 to the inside and outside of the pot
03:32 to fill in any cracks
03:34 and then leave it to dry for four hours.
03:37 Each kiln can hold up to 32 pots.
03:40 Workers have to make sure
03:44 that each one is steady
03:46 and heated from all sides.
03:48 So they add pieces of coal and cow dung
03:51 to fill in any gaps.
03:53 The temperature can reach
03:56 up to nearly 1,000 degrees Celsius.
03:58 And smoke from the burning coals and cow dung
04:01 consumes the air as they burn.
04:04 Shivshankar Prajapati: It's hot in the summer,
04:07 so we don't sweat.
04:09 In the summer, we don't stop here.
04:11 We work even then.
04:13 It gets red,
04:16 and then we start again,
04:18 and the work is done.
04:20 When the pots are hot enough,
04:23 workers add three kilograms
04:25 of raw sambhar salt.
04:27 It is found at Sambhar Lake,
04:29 in Karnataka.
04:31 It is found at Sambhar Lake,
04:33 India's largest inland salt lake
04:36 over 670 kilometers away from Lucknow.
04:39 This mixture of finely ground plants and fruits
04:44 is the key ingredient in kala namak.
04:47 It gives the salt its signature black color
04:50 and distinctive flavor.
04:52 Workers have to be careful
04:55 as they pour one kilogram of it
04:57 into each pot.
04:59 The salt water inside the pot
05:01 can cause a storm.
05:03 So if it leaks out,
05:05 people are afraid of falling into it.
05:08 We close the lid.
05:13 We close the lid.
05:15 We check the pot
05:17 to see if the salt is ready.
05:19 If it's not,
05:21 we pour it out.
05:23 After two hours,
05:28 the salt and powder melt together.
05:30 Workers use an iron rod
05:33 to check the salt from a distance
05:35 to avoid getting burned.
05:37 But it's not always foolproof.
05:39 Some employees who live at the factory
05:51 have to deal with the heat all day long.
05:54 All of us are brothers.
05:56 If we like the salt,
05:58 we make it ourselves.
06:00 We eat it and sleep.
06:02 They work through the night,
06:08 tending to the fire
06:10 and adding more salt and powder
06:12 until the pots are filled.
06:14 We have to get up at night
06:17 to hear the sound of the salt.
06:19 Cooking one batch of kala namak
06:23 takes 24 hours.
06:25 At around 3 o'clock in the morning,
06:28 the fire dies out under the pots.
06:31 One pot can weigh up to 35 kilograms.
06:48 Breaking the pots is the only way
06:51 to get to the finished kala namak.
06:53 After letting them cool for an hour,
06:57 workers use hammers to shatter them,
07:00 revealing the finished salt inside.
07:03 At this point,
07:06 the kala namak is still extremely hot.
07:09 So workers cover the balls
07:12 with raw sambhar salt
07:14 to cool them down.
07:17 They break the kala namak
07:19 into smaller pieces.
07:21 Some of it is sold in large chunks.
07:33 The rest is ground into a fine powder.
07:37 Although kala namak appears black
07:40 when removed from the pot,
07:42 the salt crystals look white
07:44 after grinding.
07:46 Chetak makes around 250 packets
07:58 of kala namak a day.
08:01 They take the kala namak home
08:03 and taste it.
08:05 I feel that I'm doing something
08:08 in my own field.
08:10 That's how I'm making a living.
08:13 I've been working with kala namak
08:22 for the past 10 years.
08:25 But now, he's on the brink
08:27 of closing it down.
08:29 Labor shortages and erratic weather
08:32 have been threatening the business lately.
08:34 Ram says fewer people
08:36 want to do this difficult work.
08:38 Even some of his employees
08:48 aren't interested in passing
08:50 the traditional craft down
08:52 to the next generation.
08:54 Demand for kala namak has increased
09:08 in recent years.
09:10 Its unique taste has made it
09:12 a popular ingredient for chefs
09:14 both in India and abroad.
09:16 In 2023, India was the largest
09:20 exporter of black salt
09:22 in the world.
09:24 To meet this increased demand,
09:26 black salt producers have shifted
09:28 from using traditional practices
09:30 to machines.
09:32 But this has left factories
09:34 like Chetak struggling to keep up.
09:36 The factory's location in Lucknow
09:44 has also made it more expensive
09:46 to get the raw materials,
09:48 like sambar salt.
09:50 Ram's team can make kala namak
10:00 this way year-round.
10:02 But another, more recent challenge
10:04 to this tradition
10:06 is unpredictable weather.
10:08 He has to watch out for heavy rains,
10:10 which have been hitting the area
10:12 even during dry season.
10:14 When it starts raining,
10:16 the work stops.
10:18 Rain can also make the already
10:22 dangerous salt-making process
10:24 even more risky.
10:26 Despite the challenges,
10:34 Chetak is still the only factory
10:36 producing kala namak for customers
10:38 in Lucknow.
10:42 Salt is a key ingredient
10:44 in Indian street foods,
10:46 like chaat and salads.
10:48 In recent decades,
10:58 the salt has found a home
11:00 outside of South Asia.
11:02 Barkha Kardos is a culinary entrepreneur
11:04 living in New Jersey.
11:06 She's been eating kala namak
11:08 since she was a little girl in India.
11:10 As a child, you didn't pick up
11:12 on what it specifically was.
11:14 You just knew there was, you know,
11:16 a different kind of salt in your drink
11:18 or your food or, you know,
11:20 you topped your yogurt with it.
11:22 Today, she brings
11:24 classic Indian flavors to the American
11:26 market with her spice blends.
11:28 She works with a spice company,
11:32 Burlap and Barrel, to source the kala namak
11:34 she uses from India.
11:36 Bringing it to other markets
11:38 out of India,
11:40 not only are we increasing
11:42 awareness of our
11:44 beautiful cuisine, but we're
11:46 also bringing awareness to our
11:48 farmers, how they work.
11:50 The salt is a key ingredient in one of
11:54 her most popular blends,
11:56 chaat masala.
11:58 So I'm going to add
12:00 tamarind,
12:02 ginger,
12:04 kala namak,
12:06 chili powder,
12:08 little bit of
12:12 the asafoetida or hing,
12:14 not a lot, but just a little bit.
12:16 And then this is all the other spices
12:20 that we had put in.
12:22 And this is how
12:24 I like to taste it.
12:26 Just take a little bit of it.
12:28 It's good.
12:32 It's sharp.
12:34 It's spicy.
12:36 It's tangy.
12:38 Over the years, Barkha says
12:42 she's seen the salt become more
12:44 widely used in America,
12:46 especially in vegan cuisine,
12:48 thanks to its eggy taste.
12:50 Just finishing it with a little
12:52 bit of that black salt,
12:54 you realize you get a little
12:56 bit of that flavor,
12:58 which reminds you of that egg,
13:00 you know,
13:02 that you've given up.
13:04 There are so many amazing chefs,
13:06 not just Indian, but American chefs
13:08 that are using it
13:10 and are talking about it.
13:12 I'm just so proud and happy that
13:14 we're opening it up to
13:16 the world.
13:18 Something that we all took for granted
13:20 growing up in India or using it,
13:22 even today, and to then see
13:24 friends of yours or people you know
13:26 asking you about it and wanting to
13:28 learn more about it and use it.
13:30 It's perfect.
13:32 Today, Chetak sells its kala namak
13:36 to merchants who export it to
13:38 countries like the U.S. and the U.K.
13:40 While Ram doesn't
13:42 know what the future holds for his
13:44 factory, he's proud of the work
13:46 he's done to keep traditional
13:48 kala namak alive.
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