♂ Indian Black Salt (Kala Namak) - Where To Buy?

 

 

  

What is black salt?
Kala Namak or Himalayan black Indian salt is a type of rock salt, salty and pungent-smelling condiment used in South Asia. The condiment is composed largely of sodium chloride with several impurities lending the salt its colour and smell, the smell is mainly due to its sulphur content. When in whole, it forms brownish pink to dark violet translucent crystals and, and when ground into a powder, it is light purple to pink in colour. The raw material for producing Kala Namak was originally obtained from natural halite from mines in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

How to use black salt?
It is used extensively in South Asian cuisines and appreciated by vegans in dishes that mimic the taste of eggs. To me, this is the best natural egg replacer for cooking, not baking of course. After you tried this black salt on the following dishes below, you will be surely think like most vegans... "seriously who still need eggs with an amazing natural wholefood like this?" To read more about Kala Namak, click here.

I used black salt on these recipes:
Fresh Spring Roll Popiah (薄餅) With Vegan 'Egg'
Vegan 'Egg' Fried Brown Rice
Vegan Tofu Scrambled 'Egg' 


Where to Buy?

In Singapore
☼ SGD0.90 for 100g.

Available at Mustafa Center, Singapore.
Exact location: Level 2, Row 1A which displays salt, tamarind, tortillas etc.

They stock up different brands from time to time, so any brands doesn't really matter, not much price and quality differences.  

 

☼ Available at most Indian grocery stores.

☆ Click here to see what other products I regularly get from Mustafa Center.

Online
☼ SGD12.92 for 453g at iHerb.

☼ Available at Amazon

♥ Learning a new cuisine is actually not that challenging, it is the process of understanding & finding the ingredients in your area which is tedious and time-consuming. Thus, I am most willing to share with readers (Singapore, Malaysia and international) where I get the most value-for-money ingredients that are slightly uncommon. See more of the great, affordable & healthy stuff I am always get.

Vegetarian Fresh Spring Roll Popiah (薄餅) - With Vegan 'Egg'

 

 

 

Popiah aka 薄餅 is non-fried fresh spring roll that is common in Asia countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The Popiah skin is soft, thin paper-like crepe made from wheat flour, and wrapped with a wet savoury dough, and accompanied with condiments like sweet bean sauce, soy sauce or hoisin sauce and hot chilli sauce before fillings are being laid.

 

The filling comprises of mainly finely grated steamed or stir-fried turnip, jicama or bangkuang with a combination of other ingredients such as bean sprouts, lettuce leaves, carrots, chopped fried tofu, Chinese sausage peanuts powder, fried shallots and scrambled eggs. The list is simply endless! Here, this is the vegan/vegetarian variation. To mimic the scrambled eggs, I used fried tofu, it tastes so real especially with the natural yellow colour from turmeric and the black salt which gives a sulphuric taste and smell of eggs. We vegetarians can have an awesome Popiah party too! Click here for vegan scrambled egg.

All these shredding of veggies sound tedious, isn't it? I can totally understand and it puts me off on making this dish. Thus, I got myself a food processor (I'm using this) to ease my jobs in the kitchen. Where to buy fresh Popiah skins? Refer below.

 

Dietary: Vegetarian, Vegan.

Make about 12 rolls

 

Ingredients

 12-16 pcs fresh popiah skins
 

Filling

 4 cloves garlic, chopped  

 800g turnip/jicama/bangkuang or daikon radish, shredded

 120g carrot (about 1 medium carrot), shredded

 100g green cabbage, shredded  
 3 stalks fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced 
 150ml water

 1 Tbsp soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos

 1 Tbsp vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce
 1 tsp sugar
 1 tsp sesame oil
 White pepper, to taste

 Canola oil, for stir-frying

Paste
 4 Tbsp sweet soy sauce

 2 garlic, finely minced

 Vegetarian sambal chilli (optional)

Garnish

 16 small lettuce leaves

 80g beansprouts, blanched

 100g cucumber, shredded  

 

Optional Garnish

 100g grounded peanut
 Fresh coriander sprig

 Fried shallot
 Vegan tofu scrambled ‘egg’ (click for recipe)

 

Method

To prepare filling

1. Heat up oil in a large skillet or wok. Sauté the garlic until aromatic.

2. Add turnip, carrot, cabbage and mushrooms and sauté for 2 minutes. Then season with soy sauce, mushroom sauce and sugar. Add water.

 

3. Stir occasionally and simmer for 15 minutes or until the veggies are tender and sauce is slightly dry. Season with sesame oil and pepper. Set aside and keep warm.

To wrap popiah

1. With the back of a teaspoon, brush Pophiah skin with soy sauce, minced garlic and chilli paste. Place a lettuce leaf over it.

 

2. Place a little filling mixture lengthways over the lettuce, then beansprouts and cucumber. Sprinkle the optional garnish.

 

3. Roll the bottom up, then fold the left and right sides in, creating an envelope. Now keep rolling up, into a firm tight roll. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. With a sharp knife, slice each roll into 3-4 pieces and serve.

Before wrapping



Popiah filling

How to make vegan tofu scrambled 'egg'?

 

☆ Where to buy fresh Popiah skins?

☼ Singapore

To the best of my knowledge, there are no fresh Popiah skins available at the supermarkets in Singapore. All of which are meant for frying, not for wrapping fresh Popiah. Do not attempt to use those for wrapping this filling, it will tear when wrapped and it will not taste good because it is doughy and meant to be fried.

 

I got my Popiah skins from a Popiah stall near my place, about 10 cents per piece, so cheap! Many stalls do not sell the skins especially small quantity, thus it takes some time and techniques to make them sell you the skins. For me, I patronise them often, smile to them every time I walk past, and when the rapport is built, I ask them if you can buy the skin from them, viola, LOL! 

 

 

☼ In Malaysia

RM4.99 for 20 pcs popiah skin
(Equivalent to SGD2.00)

Available at Tesco.











☼ Do it yourself
If it is not possible to get at your local stores, why not do it yourself? Check out this video.

Make about 25 pcs (8 inch)
Ingredients
 400 g all-purpose flour, sifted
 1/2 tsp sea salt
 400 ml Water

Method

Combine all the ingredients in a stand mixer bowl. Stir the batter with a wooden spatula, wrap with a cling film and let it rest for at least 3 hours. Beat the batter for about 15 minutes, or until the batter is smooth and elastic. Place the griddle or a flat cast-iron pan on a medium heat. Once the pan is hot, lower the heat slightly. Using one hand, coat the batter and rub onto the pan. Then use the other hand to peel off the wrapper when it is cooked.

 

Vegan 'Egg' Fried Rice

Using brown rice
I used some balanced Vegan Bak Kwa from Chinese New Year ;)

 

Using unpolished red rice

 

 

Fried rice is a simple dish of steamed rice stir-fried in a Chinese wok, usually mixed with ingredients like eggs, vegetables, and meat. This is a vegan variation which is eggless, and meatless of course.

 

Recently I blogged about the Vegan Tofu Scrambled 'Egg', today let me share with you how to incorporate the tofu scrambled 'egg' into a fried rice dish. I only eat unpolished whole-grain brown or red rice for better health, you may use white rice if you prefer. This recipe happens to be one of my all-time favourite fried rice because it is simple to make, healthy and delicious. And most importantly, no animals were harmed during the process.

 

Dietary: Vegetarian, Vegan.

Serve 2

Ingredients

 1 block or 200g firm tofu, drained & pressed
 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

 2 tsp black salt / kala namak *

 1/2 tsp sesame oil

 1 medium onion or 1 tsp ginger, chopped

 Canola oil, for frying

 3 cups cooked brown rice, warm or overnight

Vegetable (optional)
 1/4 cup carrot, chopped 
 2 fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped
 1/4 vegetarian sausage/ham, chopped 

Seasoning
 1/2 tsp soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos, or to taste
 1/2 tsp vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce
 1 tsp sesame oil
  Pinch of white pepper
  
Garnish (optional)
 Parsley

 Spring onions
 Fried shallots
 Pickled green chilli
 Vegetarian sambal chilli

Method
1. Using a food processor or potato masher (or simply hands), mash the drained tofu into small pieces like scrambled egg size, but not too grainy. 

2. Marinate the scrambled tofu with turmeric, black salt and sesame oil. Set aside for about 5 minutes.

3. Heat up oil in a large skillet or wok. Stir-fry the onion or ginger until aromatic.

4. Add scrambled tofu and cook for about 2 minutes, then add vegetables (if using). Stir the mixture for until almost cooked.

5. Stir in the rice until well combined. Add in seasoning and stir for another 2 minutes.

6. Plate and garnish, serve hot!

Notes

☼ Where to buy black salt in Singapore and Online, click here for more details.  

Vegan Tofu Scrambled 'Egg'



Scrambled 'egg' with turmeric powder added.





Without turmeric powder.

 

This vegan tofu scrambled 'egg' is as good as real, no joke. Black salt is used to give that sulphuric taste and smell of egg, this is almost like a must-have for this recipe. Where to buy? Please refer to below note. If you really couldn't get, you can use the sea salt in your pantry too. The turmeric powder gives that natural beautiful yellow colour of scrambled egg.

This recipe makes a perfect breakfast dish, and can also be used with recipes like Vegan Fried 'Egg' Rice and Fresh Spring Roll Popiah. This is so easy to do and within a few minutes. Taste awesome and nutritious too! You can serve this tofu scrambled eggs with baked beans, hash brown for that full English breakfast set. How nice, what a great way to start the day!

 

Dietary: Vegetarian, Vegan.

Serve 1

 
Ingredients

 1 block or 200g firm tofu, drained & pressed
 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

 1 tsp black salt / kala namak *

 1/2 tsp sesame oil

 1 small onion or 1 tsp ginger, chopped

 1 stalk fresh shiitake mushroom, chopped (optional)

 1/4 cup vegetarian sausage/ham, chopped (optional)

 Canola oil, for frying

 Soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos, to taste

 Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Garnish
 Spring onions
 Fried shallots

Method

1. Using a food processor or potato masher (or simply hands), mash the drained tofu into small pieces like scrambled egg size, but not too grainy. 

2. Marinate the scrambled tofu with turmeric, black salt and sesame oil. Set aside for about 5 minutes.

3. Heat up oil in a large skillet or wok. Stir-fry the onion or ginger until aromatic.

4. Add scrambled tofu and cook for about 2 minutes, then add mushroom and sausage/ham and stir well. Season with soy sauce and pepper to taste. Stir the mixture for about 3-4 minutes or until brown and cooked.

5. Plate, and garnish, serve hot!

Notes

☼ Where to buy black salt in Singapore and Online, click here for more details.

 

☆ You may also like

                 Vegan 'Egg' Fried Brown Rice




Vegetarian Fresh Spring Roll Popiah (薄餅)
- With Vegan 'Egg'