Also Known as
Namak, Mithu, Table salt

Description
Sodium chloride or common salt is the chemical compound NaCl. Salt occurs naturally in many parts of the world as the mineral halite and as mixed evaporites in salt lakes. Seawater has lots of salt. Sodium chloride crystals are cubic in form. Table salt consists of tiny cubes tightly bound together through ionic bonding of the sodium and chloride ions. It varies in color from colorless, when pure, to white, gray or brownish, typical of rock salt (halite).
Salt is not only critical to your life, but it is one of the basic elements of which your body is made. Like true lovers, the relationship between salt and your health is so intricately involved as to make them impossible to be disentangled or untied. Without salt, you could not exist for a moment. At the fundamental level of the physical body, you are a walking, breathing, salty ocean.

This is the common salt normally found on every table. It is a fine-ground, refined rock salt with some additives to keep it free-flowing. Smaller particles mean more particles per measure and more surface area than coarser grinds. As such, use about half the amount if you are substituting for coarse salt.

Garlic salt Garlic salt is a flavored salt used as food seasoning made of a mixture of dried ground garlic and table salt with an anti-caking agent. It is used as a substitute for fresh garlic, for example in burgers or chili. It should not be mistaken with minced garlic, granulated garlic, or garlic powder, which are just ground dried garlic, also sold as spices. Ground garlic can be made into garlic salt by pouring it into a bowl with salt and pouring humectant on it. salt is considered a spice or an herb and spice mixture. It contains powdered garlic, regular table salt, and an ingredient to keep the mix from clumping, usually called a humectant. Common humectants in garlic salt include calcium silicate, and occasionally you'll find the salt with a few other herbs like parsley, or as part of an herb or grill seasoning mix. You'll easily locate garlic salt in most grocery stores in the spice or seasonings section of the store. This salt is a great benefit to cooks, since it allows for lots of flavor without imparting extra volume or weight to dishes. For instance, you can use garlic salt in hamburger or homemade sausage mix for additional flavor. You can sprinkle it into stuffing, add it to stews or soups, or put a bit on popcorn. You should read labels carefully on this seasoning, since some variants contain MSG, to which many people are sensitive. If you are concerned about preservatives in this seasoning, consider buying organic varieties, which tend to contain more naturally based humectants. Either organic or regular versions can last a long time, and be a great way of making over recipes and adding extra flavor.





Seasoned Salt
Regular salt seasoned with herbs and spices: onion salt, basil salt, celery salt and even flowers. Single or multiple herbs and spices are added to salt to make garlic salt, onion salt, and other mixes. If you are watching your salt intake, you are better off using the unsalted powdered or dried herbs and spices and controlling the salt as a separate ingredient. The main ingredient in seasoned salt is, after all, salt.

Iodized Salt
Salt which has iodine (sodium iodide) added. Iodine is a mineral necessary to the body to prevent hypothyroidism and some countries actually require iodine added by law. For those who live in areas away from oceans, iodized salt is an easy way to get this necessary nutrient into the diet. Surprisingly, iodized salt contains a small amount of sugar (usually indicated as dextrose in the ingredients listing), without which the salt would turn yellow due to oxidation of the iodine.

Celtic salt
This is the expensive type. It is harvested via a 2,000 year-old method of solar evaporation from the waters of the Celtic Sea marshes in Brittany, France. Its flavor is described as mellow with a salty, yet slightly sweet taste. Even more expensive and rare this is said to form only when the wind blows from the east.

Pickling salt
This fine-grained salt has no additives and is generally used in brines to pickle foods. Unlike table salt, the lack of additives will help keep the pickling liquid from clouding.

Popcorn salt
This super-fine grind (think of the texture of confectioners' sugar) of salt is generally colored yellowish-orange and is used on popcorn for both color and flavoring.

Colored salt
This is a relatively new product. Food coloring is added to salt as a novelty. It does not affect the flavor. One enterprising marketing tactic suggest using colored salt as a condiment on the table for those who wish to cut back on salt intake. The coloring makes it easier to see how much you apply.

How to Select
Salt is available in a variety of types. Choose the appropriate one as desired. Check the packaging date and ensure that it is dry and has no moisture. Its free flow movement best tells about its quality and freshness. It is available under many brand names - plain salt as well as fortified too. Hence read the labels and then purchase.

Culinary Uses
· Salt serves many purposes. Humans and other animals have an inherent taste for this essential nutrient.
· Salt is the world's oldest known food additive. People use many types of sodium chloride in food processing, cooking or at the table -- at home or in restaurants. Each makes its unique contribution.
· Besides contributing its own basic "salty" taste, salt brings out natural flavors and makes foods acceptable, protects food safety by retarding the growth of spoilage microorganisms, gives proper texture to processed foods, serves as a control agent to regulate the rate of fermentation in food processing strengthens gluten in bread, provides the color, aroma and appearance consumers expect and is used to create the gel necessary to process meats and sausages.
· Salt preserves foods by creating a hostile environment for certain icroorganisms. Within foods, salt brine dehydrates bacterial cells, alters osmotic pressure and inhibits bacterial growth and subsequent spoilage.
· Salt strengthens gluten in bread dough, providing uniform grain, texture and dough strength. With salt present, gluten holds more water and carbon dioxide, allowing the dough to expand without tearing.
· Salt develops the characteristic rind hardness in cheese and helps produce the desirable, even consistency in cheese and other foods such as sauerkraut.
· In baked products, salt controls fermentation by retarding and controlling the rate of fermentation, important in making a uniform product.
· During pickle making, salt brine is gradually increased in concentration, reducing the fermentation rate as the process proceeds to completion.
· Salt promotes the development of color. It enhances the golden color in bread crust by reducing sugar destruction in the dough and increasing carmelization.
· Over-salted sauces can often be helped with the addition of a little cream, brown sugar or vinegar. Use your judgement depending on the sauce, using a little at a time and tasting all the way.
· A bit of unsalted, cooked white rice pureed with unsalted water or broth to a thin paste can also help cure over salted soups or stews.
· For soups and sauces that have a long simmering time, go easy on the salt in the beginning, keeping in mind that the liquid will reduce and intensify the salt flavor.
· Although a pinch of salt added to breads and desserts enhances flavors, do not double this ingredient when doubling a recipe.
· Salt pulls juices out of vegetables. This is a good thing for some watery vegetables like cucumbers and eggplant in some dishes, but if you want mushrooms to remain plump, adds the salt at the end of cooking.
· Do not add salt before whipping egg whites. The salt pulls out the moisture which will not only increase whipping time, but decrease volume, texture, and stability.
· If you plan on adding salt to boiling water for pasta or vegetables, wait until the water boils before adding it. Salted water takes longer to boil.
· The addition of salt to vegetables and pasta results in a firmer texture.
· Vegetables naturally high in sodium include beets, kale, chard, celery, spinach, dandelion greens, carrots, endive, corn, and artichokes. Take care when adding salt.
· When reducing salt in breads, you will need to reduce the quantity of yeast and water. Salt is necessary to good yeast breads, so do not expect the same quality if you modify it. Salt slows down enzymes that cause gluten to break down, without which you end up with a sticky glob of dough. Usually the small amount used in bread as compared with serving size is not worth omitting the salt.
· A salted warm dish will not taste as salty when cold because chilling dims salty flavors.

Fruit salt

Eno can be used for baking. It causes the flours to rise and can be handy in preparing lots of dishes. For all that fluffiness and softness, Eno is used in varied food preparations like pancakes, rice flour tortillas, wheat flour tortillas, naans, dhoklas, khaman, rice puffs, iddli, dosa etc.
Eno fruit salt is available in grocery stores. It basic purpose is to get relief from acidity. It is kind of a home made soda. Just add half a tablespoon to a glass full of water and let it bubble a bit, drink it immediately and pretty soon we get relief from acidity. It is very handy after those spicy dinners after which you feel the need to calm your stomach acids. It reduces the stomach bloating and the burning sensation in the esophagus. Eno is a fruit salt to helps ease digestion. Eno is a mixture of soda bi carb and citric acid in required proportions. When it gets mixed with water the bubbles of co2 gets produced which relieves gases. The soda neutralizes the acids in the stomach. It is safe to drink. It is like any antacid tablet. But, this is fresh as you can prepare it whenever you need. It can replace the bottle of soda which goes well with hard drinks.