Indian rice salad with chicken

Raid the fridge and rustle up this hearty yet healthy salad with pulses, nuts, tikka chicken and a mango curry dressing

  • Prep:20 mins
    Cook:20 mins
  • Serves 8
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 473
  • fat 9g
  • saturates 2g
  • carbs 76g
  • sugars 15g
  • fibre 5g
  • protein 20g
  • salt 0.4g

Ingredients

  • 500g bag long grain rice
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • small bunch coriander, leaves roughly chopped, stalks reserved
  • 100g bag toasted cashews, ½ very roughly chopped
  • 1 cucumber, deseeded and cut into chunks
  • 1 large red onion, finely chopped
  • about 110g pack pomegranate seeds
  • 400g can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 x roughly 130g packs cooked chicken tikka pieces, chopped
  • natural yogurt and mini poppadum crisps, to serve (optional)
  • 4 tbsp mango chutney
  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp medium curry powder, plus 1 tsp for the rice
  • juice 1½-2 lemon, depending on size

Method

  1. Cook the rice following pack instructions but add the turmeric and 1 tsp curry powder to the cooking water. Drain well and spread on a tray lined with kitchen paper to cool.

  2. Meanwhile, finely chop the coriander stalks and whisk with all the other dressing ingredients, plus seasoning.

  3. Tip the rice into a big mixing bowl. Using a fork, break up any large lumps, then mix in the cashews, cucumber, onion, coriander leaves, pomegranate seeds, beans and chicken. Pour over the dressing and lightly stir in, then cover and keep in the fridge. Eat over the next 2 days (as long as it’s within the chicken use-by date). Keep a big spoon in the bowl so kids can easily help themselves. Top with a dollop of yogurt and add a handful of poppadum crisps, if you like.

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