Brown rice salads make for an excellent healthy and nutritious meal, and are a hit among those trying to stick to a weight loss diet in particular. The good part is, they don’t need to be boring. This Indian style brown rice salad, for instance, has all of the healthy goodness, and at the same time, is big on flavor, and is bound to keep your taste buds happy.
Ready to give the recipe a shot? Scroll down and read on to discover everything you need to know about it.
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Ingredients For the Recipe
You’ll need three sets of ingredients to make the different elements of this recipe.
For the air fried chicken
- Chicken strips: ½ cup
- Black pepper powder: ½ tsp
- Salt: ½ cup
- Garlic powder: ½ tsp
For the salad
- Broccoli (florets): 1 cup
- Haricot Beans (1-inch cut): 1 cup
- Brown rice (cooked): 1 cup
- Raw mango (chopped): ½ cup
- Carrots (chopped): ½ cup
- Red and yellow bell peppers (chopped): ½ cup
- Onions (sliced): ½ cup
- Cucumber (chopped): ½ cup
- Baby spinach (chopped): 1 cup
- Prepared air fried chicken
For the Green chutney
- Coriander leaves: A bunch
- Mint leaves: ½ cup
- Garlic cloves: 8-10
- Green chilies: 3-5
- Salt: 2 tsps or as per taste
- Lemon juice: Half a lemon
How to Make the Brown Rice Salad
Once you have all your ingredients ready, here’s the process you need to follow to make the salad from scratch.
For the air fried chicken, take the chicken strips on a plate and add the salt, black pepper powder, and garlic powder. Coat the chicken strips well with the spices.
Pre-heat the air fryer at 400°F for 5 minutes.
Transfer the coated chicken into the air fryer. Air fry them at 350°F for 8-10 minutes.
Keep the chicken aside once done.
While the chicken is cooking, blanch the broccoli and haricot beans.
Next, add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix. Add in the blanched broccoli and haricot beans as well. Add in the prepared air fried chicken.
For the dressing, mix all the ingredients mentioned under dressing and mix.
Pour the dressing over the salad and give it a good mix.
Serve salad as part of a meal.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can actually prep different parts of the recipe in advance and refrigerate until you’re ready to use them and assemble the salad. The air fried chicken, for instance, can be made upto 3 days in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container. The green chutney can also be made and stored for upto a week or more.
Since the rest of the ingredients are pretty much veggies, it is best to prepare them fresh and then put the dish together. 
The best part about this brown rice salad is the fact that it is super versatile- you can go ahead and add the ingredients and seasonings of your choice, and give it your own twist.
Veggies like boiled corn, chopped red cabbage, chopped zucchini, boiled peas, and chopped spring onions can all be great additions to the salad. You can also add a nice little tempering on the salad to give it an extra Indian twist.
Got any leftovers? You can transfer them to an airtight container and refrigerate them for a day. If you haven’t added the green chutney aka the dressing into the salad just yet, the base can last upto 3 days in the refrigerator if stored correctly in a clean, airtight container. 
Tips & Tricks to Make the Brown Rice Salad
While putting the salad might be super easy, you might want to keep these additional tips and tricks handy to make the process easier.
- Looking for a vegetarian twist to the salad? Replace the air fried chicken with air fried cottage cheese cubes or some tofu instead. They’ll help add the much needed protein into the salad, and will make it more filling as well.
- Crushed, roasted peanuts can also be an excellent addition to the salad. They can help enhance the Indian flavors of the dish, and also add a nice crunchy texture.
- Don’t have the time to whip up green chutney? You can make do by adding some chopped green chilies, a squeeze of lemon juice and a generous sprinkle of chopped coriander leaves as well.
- A pinch of turmeric powder can also be added into the salad- it will add a nice golden color, and offer an anti-inflammatory punch as well.
- You can also top the salad with some grated coconut to enhance its nutritive value and flavor profile.
- This salad can also be a great way to use up any leftovers that you might have. Got some tandoori chicken or grilled chicken left? Shred it or chop it up and use it instead of the air fried chicken.
- Loved the Indian flavors? You can replicate the same recipe by using quinoa instead, and bring in a bit of variation to the salad.
Serving Ideas & Suggestions
This Indian style brown rice salad can be a complete meal on its own, but if you really want to go the extra mile, you can team it up with a bowl of soup or a crunchy side salad.
Enjoyed making this flavorful and healthy salad? Looking for some more such filling and nutritious recipes to try out? Here are a few good ones you might want to check out.
📖 Recipe
Indian Style Brown Rice Salad
Ingredients
Ingredients For the air fried chicken
- ½ cup Chicken strips
- ½ teaspoon Black pepper powder
- ½ cup Salt
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
Ingredients For the salad
- 1 cup Broccoli , (florets)
- 1 cup Haricot Beans , (1-inch cut)
- 1 cup Brown rice , (cooked)
- ½ cup Raw mango , (chopped)
- ½ cup Carrots , (chopped)
- ½ cup Red and yellow bell peppers , (chopped)
- ½ cup Onions , (sliced)
- ½ cup Cucumber , (chopped)
- 1 cup Baby spinach , (chopped)
- 1 bowl Prepared air fried chicken
Ingredients For the Green chutney
- 1 bunch Coriander leaves
- ½ cup Mint leaves
- 10 cloves Garlic
- 5 pcs Green chilies
- 2 teaspoon Salt
- ½ Lemon Lemon juice
Instructions
- For the air fried chicken, take the chicken strips on a plate and add the salt, black pepper powder, and garlic powder. Coat the chicken strips well with the spices.
- Pre-heat the air fryer at 400°F for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the coated chicken into the air fryer. Air fry them at 350°F for 8-10 minutes.
- Keep the chicken aside once done.
- While the chicken is cooking, blanch the broccoli and haricot beans.
- Next, add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix. Add in the blanched broccoli and haricot beans as well. Add in the prepared air fried chicken.
- For the dressing, mix all the ingredients mentioned under dressing and mix.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and give it a good mix.
- Serve salad as part of a meal.
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