http://mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=13020

hi mamta,

the above recipe,is also made at my mum's place,during fasts as a part of phalhar. but we kids used to like it so much that my aunt(taiji)use to make it on regular days too...she used khatta dahi...does it make ny diff?

i belong to a brahmin family from UP...and all ur recipes,are more or less similar to how its prepared at my mum's place.

i learn so much from this site.

thanks a lot.

Hello Sia

You are right, this dish is made in almost all UP families on fast days, as well as many other days through the year. The only difference is that on fasting days, ‘sendha namak’ or rock salt is used, instead of normal salt, because normal salt is not allowed in Hindu fasting. I guess it is something to do with normal salt being collected from the sea, but I am not sure why exactly!

Mamta

hi mamta,

rock salt is considered ayurvedic (it does no undergo lot of processing) hence used for fasts..it also has medicinal properties..

where as common salt is not used because iodine is added to it...and its natural state is very impure.

Thanks

Mamta

My first thoughts on the use of sea salt were that knowing how its extracted* it could contain microscopic animal life and thats why there are problems with using it ?

* Usually by letting sea water run into bays (salt beds) that are allowed to dry out in the sun, this leaves behind the salt (but I'd guess it also leaves behind anything else that was in the water that couldn't evaporate).

Just done a search** on salt and can't find anything that mentions the above but it does mention that Table Salt is made from refining Rock Salt (and then usually has anti-caking agents and sometimes iodine added)

** http://www.saltworks.us/salt_info/si_gourmet_reference.asp

I wouldn't have realised there is so much variance in salt !

Hello Steven

This is a very interesting link, thank you for posting it here.

Mamta