The quick answer
"Black salt" is a name shared by several different salts. In Indian cooking it means kala namak, a salt that is fired in a furnace with plant material or charcoal until it carries sulfur compounds that smell like hard-boiled egg. In the U.S. it often means Hawaiian black lava salt, which is sea salt mixed with activated charcoal and tastes like regular salt. Both are still almost entirely sodium chloride, so use them for flavor, not as a health upgrade.
What is black salt?
"Black salt" can mean one of three things, and they taste nothing alike.
- Kala namak (kala means black and namak means salt): a South Asian cooking salt with a strong sulfur aroma. It is the one Indian and vegan egg recipes mean.
- Hawaiian black lava salt: sea salt blended with activated charcoal. Hiwa Kai is one well-known type, and it is the black salt we sell.
- Ritual "black salt": some shops sell a blackened salt mixture for spiritual or folk practices. It is not sold as food, so keep it out of the kitchen.
Kala namak: how it is made and why it smells like eggs
Kala namak starts as ordinary salt and is changed by heat. Indian sales tax cases hold some of the clearest records of the process. In a 1977 Allahabad High Court ruling, an industrial chemist's opinion on file described black salt being made by heating Sambhar or Didwana salt (named for where it is produced) in clay pots inside furnaces for about a day, together with tannin-rich plant material such as har bahera (myrobalan fruits) or babul bark. The pots were then broken open to release a black-brown product. An earlier 1970 ruling recorded a maker who simply heated Sambhar salt with charcoal. Today you will also see it sold as "Himalayan black salt," made from mined rock salt (Chander et al., Science of the Total Environment, 2020).
The same chemist's analysis put the product at 98.3% sodium chloride and 0.44% sulfides. Those sulfides are the source of the egg smell. Researchers studying plant-based eggs measured about 28 mg of hydrogen sulfide per kilogram in the kala namak they bought, and used it to supply the sulfur note of cooked egg in their tests (Tran et al., Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2025).
Uses for kala namak
- Vegan "egg" dishes. Reviews of egg alternatives note that kala namak is the home cook's way to add an eggy sulfur taste, for example in a tofu scramble (Boukid and Gagaoua, Foods, 2022; Khalifa et al., 2025).
- Everyday seasoning in Indian kitchens. A 1973 Uttar Pradesh sales tax notification even listed kala namak alongside spices and condiments, which says a lot about how it is used: as a flavoring. Start with a pinch, since its aroma is far stronger than table salt's.
- Traditional medicine. Platts' 19th-century dictionary of Urdu and Hindi describes kala namak as a manufactured salt used as a purgative, and classical Ayurvedic texts describe several distinct salts with their own properties (Mooss, Ancient Science of Life, 1987). These are traditional uses, not proven treatments.
Hawaiian black lava salt (Hiwa Kai)
Black lava salt is a finishing salt. The Hiwa Kai type starts as Pacific sea salt dried by the sun; activated charcoal is then blended in, giving it a jet-black color and a soft, slightly smoky edge. It does not contain sulfur compounds, so it will not make anything taste like egg.
Use it where you can see it, such as on sliced tomatoes, grilled fish or avocado toast. The coarse grains add crunch. Some labels connect the charcoal to "detox" benefits. A pinch of finishing salt carries very little charcoal, and we don't recommend choosing it for anything except color and texture.
Where "purple salt" fits
"Purple salt" is sometimes used for kala namak, but the salt that is actually purple is Korean bamboo salt (jukyeom). It is made by packing solar sea salt into bamboo and baking it at very high temperatures, roughly 600 to 1100 °C, and depending on the method the result can be white or dark purple (Lee et al., International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2022). Korean tradition holds that it is best after at least nine bakings (Zhao et al., Nutrition Research and Practice, 2013). Research on bamboo salt's health effects so far comes from cell and mouse studies, which tell us little about people.
Kala namak vs black lava salt vs bamboo salt
| Kala namak (Indian black salt) | Hawaiian black lava salt | Purple bamboo salt | Ritual black salt | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting salt | Sambhar salt or mined rock salt | Solar-evaporated sea salt | Solar sea salt | Varies |
| How it is changed | Fired in a furnace with plant material or charcoal | Mixed with activated charcoal | Baked in bamboo, often many times | Contents vary; not a food product |
| Color | Dark brown to black lumps | Black crystals | White or dark purple | Black |
| Flavor | Strong sulfur, egg-like | Clean sea salt, slightly smoky | Salty; varies by maker | Not for eating |
| Best uses | Vegan egg dishes, Indian seasoning | Finishing salt for color and crunch | Korean cooking | Not food |
| Sodium | Still mostly sodium chloride (98.3% in one analysis) | Mostly sodium chloride | Mostly sodium chloride | Not applicable |
Is black salt healthier than regular salt?
Not in any way that should change how much you use. One 2020 materials study did report lower sodium in its Himalayan black salt sample than in the sea salt and pink salt it compared (Chander et al., 2020), but that was a small lab analysis, and the older analysis above found the product was still 98.3% sodium chloride. Black lava salt and bamboo salt are mostly sodium chloride too.
The FDA sets the sodium Daily Value at under 2,300 mg, roughly what one teaspoon of table salt holds. Specialty salts are also usually not iodized (NIH Office of Dietary Supplements), so if you swap all your salt for kala namak or lava salt, make sure you get iodine from other foods or keep some iodized salt in the rotation. Curious how pink salt compares? See our guide to the minerals in Himalayan pink salt.
Find it at William's
Our salts are sold by weight, so you can buy a little to try.
- Hiwa Kai Hawaiian black lava sea salt, coarse, sold by weight: our black salt. Use it as a finishing salt where the color shows.
- Alaea Hawaiian red sea salt, fine, sold by weight: sea salt colored with red volcanic clay. It has a mild, earthy taste and is traditional in Hawaiian dishes like poke.
- Himalayan pink salt, coarse, sold by weight: mined rock salt for grinders and everyday cooking.
We don't currently list kala namak online; call the store to check what's on the shelf. For other salts, read our guides to rock salt and Celtic sea salt.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does black salt taste like eggs?
Kala namak does. Its sulfur compounds, including hydrogen sulfide, give it an aroma close to a hard-boiled yolk. Hawaiian black lava salt does not; it tastes like plain sea salt with a faint smoky note.
Is black salt the same as Himalayan pink salt?
No. Some kala namak is made from Himalayan rock salt, but the firing step changes its flavor and color. Pink salt is simply mined and ground, so it tastes like ordinary salt.
Can I use kala namak instead of regular salt?
You can, but taste first. It salts food about as well as table salt, yet its egg-like smell will show up in anything mild. Many cooks keep regular salt for general seasoning and add a pinch of kala namak where they want that flavor.
Is black lava salt the same as kala namak?
No. Black lava salt is sea salt with activated charcoal added for color. Kala namak is fired with plant material or charcoal until sulfur compounds form. They are not interchangeable in recipes.
Is black salt lower in sodium?
Not meaningfully. One small study reported somewhat lower sodium in a black salt sample, but analyses still show it is mostly sodium chloride. Count it the same way you count any salt.
Is black salt iodized?
Usually not. Specialty salts are generally sold without added iodine, according to the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Check the label, and get iodine from iodized salt or other foods if you use specialty salts most of the time.
Shop it at William’s
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STARWEST
SALT HIWA KAI COARSE GRIND
$14.50
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STARWEST
SALT HIMALAYAN COARSE GRIND
$14.00
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STARWEST
SALT ALAEA FINE GRIND
$28.01
Online prices can differ from in-store prices. Call ahead to check stock.