Himalayan pink salt comes from Pakistan: the Khewra story

Check the jar of Himalayan pink salt in your kitchen. The label probably shows a snowy peak. And the salt almost certainly came from a range of low, red-brown hills in Punjab, Pakistan, a long way from any snow.

Pink “Himalayan” salt is mined in the Salt Range, about 300 km south of the Himalayas, and most famously at the Khewra Salt Mine, about two hours’ drive from Islamabad. This is the story of that mine, why the salt is pink, what it can and cannot do for you, and how to make sure you are buying the real thing.

Where Himalayan pink salt really comes from

The Salt Range runs east to west across northern Punjab, between the Indus and Jhelum rivers. Geologists consider its hills a distant outlier of the Himalayan system, which is the most generous reading of the word on the label. In practice, the salt sold worldwide as Himalayan is Pakistani rock salt, and Khewra is its best-known source.

The name stuck because it sells. A mountain sounds pure and ancient; “Punjab” on a jar in a Western supermarket did not, at least not to the marketers who popularised it. Pakistan has noticed. In 2019, Pakistani senators pushed to have the salt trademarked as a Pakistani product, after years in which much of it left the country as cheap crude rock and was packaged and branded elsewhere.

Inside the Khewra Salt Mine

Khewra is often described as the second-largest salt mine in the world, and it is one of the oldest still working. A few numbers give a sense of its size:

• It goes about 730 metres into the mountain, with roughly 40 km of tunnels.
• The workings span 19 levels, 11 of them below ground.
• It produces around 350,000 tonnes of salt a year.
• Estimates of what remains run from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of tonnes.

The salt itself is about 99% halite, which is sodium chloride. The mine has also become one of Pakistan’s most visited attractions, receiving up to a quarter of a million visitors a year. A small train carries them into the tunnels, past glowing walls of pink and red salt, underground pools and a small mosque built from salt bricks, lit from inside so the whole building glows.

Alexander’s horses and a British tunnel

Local legend says the salt was discovered when the horses of Alexander the Great’s army, passing through in 326 BC, were seen licking the rocks. It is a good story and nobody can prove it. Salt was certainly being dug here for centuries before the British arrived, and later traded across the region by the Mughals.

The mine’s modern shape came under British rule. In 1872 a mining engineer named H. Warth laid out the main tunnel, and the colonial government built roads, storehouses and water supply, and tightly controlled the salt trade.

How old is the salt?

Very. The salt beds of the Salt Range Formation were laid down at the end of the Precambrian and the start of the Cambrian, roughly 600 million years ago, when this part of the world was the edge of a shallow, evaporating sea. Layer after layer of salt crystallised as the water dried, and later rock buried and sealed it. Mountain-building pushed it back up to where miners could reach it.

That age is part of the appeal, and it is also why the salt is so clean: it was sealed away long before any modern pollution existed.

Why is pink salt pink?

The colour comes from tiny amounts of iron oxide and other minerals trapped in the crystals. The more iron, the deeper the colour, from almost white through salmon pink to dark red. Some blocks have darker veins or a little grit, which is normal for unrefined rock salt.

Is pink salt healthier than table salt?

Honestly, not in any way you would notice. Pink salt does contain trace minerals such as potassium, magnesium and calcium, but in amounts so small that you would need to eat a dangerous quantity of salt to get anything useful from them. Gram for gram, it is still almost entirely sodium chloride, and the advice on limiting salt applies to it just as it does to any other kind.

Two things are worth knowing:

1. Most pink salt is not iodised. If you rely on iodised table salt for iodine, switching entirely to pink salt removes that source. Plenty of people get iodine from dairy and fish instead, but it is worth a thought.
2. Coarse crystals feel saltier per pinch because they dissolve slowly on the tongue, so some cooks find they use less. That is a matter of texture, not chemistry.

Buy it because it looks beautiful, tastes clean and comes from somewhere extraordinary. Those are good enough reasons.

What about salt lamps?

Salt lamps are hollowed blocks of Khewra salt with a bulb inside. They give off a warm, amber glow and look lovely on a shelf. The claims that they purify air or release health-giving “negative ions” are not supported by good evidence. Buy one for the light.

Salt also attracts moisture. In a humid room an unlit lamp can “sweat” and leave a salty puddle, so keep it on a tray or coaster and switch it on now and then to dry it out.

Ways to use Pakistani pink salt

• At the table: coarse crystals in a grinder, or fine salt in a dish.
• Salt blocks: heat a slab slowly on a grill or in the oven and sear thin slices of meat, fish or vegetables on it. Food picks up a gentle saltiness.
• Chilled blocks: serve fruit, cheese or sashimi on a cold block.
• In Pakistani cooking: rock salt, called namak, goes into everything. Pakistanis also use kala namak, a black salt with a sulphurous, eggy smell, in chaat and raitas. That is a different, processed salt and is not what “Himalayan pink” means. If you cook Pakistani food, our Shan masala guide is a good place to start.

How to buy genuine Pakistani pink salt

The word “Himalayan” on a pack tells you nothing about where it was mined. To be sure you are buying salt from Pakistan:

• Look for “Product of Pakistan” on the label or listing. Some brands name Khewra or the Salt Range directly.
• Expect some natural variation. Uneven colour, darker veins and a few specks are normal. Perfectly uniform, bright pink salt may be dyed or blended.
• Pick the grind for the job. Fine for baking and everyday cooking, coarse for grinders, blocks for searing.
• For lamps, check the weight in the listing. Good lamps are heavy, and the bulb and cord should be certified for your country’s mains supply.

Visiting Khewra

If you travel to Pakistan, Khewra is an easy and memorable day trip from Islamabad, and it can be combined with Katas Raj, a group of old Hindu temples around a sacred pond, nearby in the Salt Range. Guided tours run through the main tunnels, the train runs into the mine, and there is a shop outside selling lamps, carvings and bags of salt straight from the source.

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A bag of Khewra salt or a small lamp also makes a good present: see our guide to gifts from Pakistan.

Next time someone praises the “Himalayan” salt at dinner, you can tell them where it is really from: a 600-million-year-old seabed under the hills of Punjab, cut by Pakistani miners who have worked there for generations.