It’s a wonderful appetiser, side dish and also makes for a satisfying, vegan-friendly light meal option.
How to Make Indian Chickpea and Peanut Salad
Making this quick chickpea salad recipe for lunch or dinner is simple: When hosting, I serve this Indian spiced chickpea and peanut salad as an appetizer instead of nachos or chunky air fryer chips. It’s always a hit! Along with being vegan and gluten-free, this Indian spiced salad is packed with plant protein, fiber and healthy fats. If you are looking for more delicious Indian style salads, you are also going to love my Onion tomato salad, Kachumber salad and Kala chana chaat.
Chickpeas: I prefer using canned chickpeas - its a time saver. If you’re cooking them from dried, you can easily pressure cook chickpeas in an Instant Pot or on the stove. Peanuts: I use roasted salted peanuts. This is a time saver ingredient that available readily in grocery stores and tastes delicious. Raw Mango: Unripe mango is my favorite ingredient in this salad. it adds the right tang plus texture. Cucumber: I like using English cucumber, but mini or Persian cucumbers are great alternatives. I don’t peel or deseed this kind of cucumber, everything can be eaten. Tomato: Any variety works well, whether it’s Roma, Vine, or Salad tomatoes. Red Onion: For the best flavor, go with red or Indian pink onions. Carrot: Grate the carrot using the coarse side of a grater. Thought this a chopped salad, grated carrots add the right texture than the chopped ones. Spices: I use a mix of Kashmiri red chili powder, homemade cumin powder, and chaat masala. if you can’t find chaat masala, use dried curry powder instead. Like it spicy, add chopped green chillies too. Coriander: chopped. Adds a fresh flavour to this Indian chickpea salad. If you’re not a fan of cilantro, replace it with parsley. Olive Oil: While this salad can be made without oil, I find that olive oil adds a nice moisture. Lemon or Lime Juice: Either citrus works beautifully. This adds freshness to the salad.
PS: I missed the lemon and olive oil while capturing the ingredient shot.
Substitutions and Variations
Nut Allergy: You can substitute peanuts for roasted sunflower seeds, oven roasted pumpkin seeds or omit them altogether. Roasted Chickpeas: Try adding air fryer roasted chickpeas to this salad - its so good! Spicy: To make it spicy, I add chopped green chillies or extra chilli flakes. For a milder taste, reduce Kashmiri chilli powder in the dressing. Herbs: I love fresh coriander in my salad. you can substitute with mint and/ or parsley. When I have plenty of herbs, I love to add in all of them too. Grains: Make it a complete meal by adding homemade cooked white basmati rice, cooked at home brown basmati rice, quinoa, farro, barley or couscous. Cheese: Add feta cheese to the chickpea peanut salad for a Mediterranean twist, leaving out the chaat masala. Veggies: You can also add chopped boiled potatoes or sweet potatoes.
Storage
Like most fresh salads, enjoy the peanut chickpea salad right away after mixing. Once you add the dressing to the chopped salad veggies, chickpeas and peanut, the veggies will release liquid, leaving us with a softer salad. Any leftover, just in case can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days. If you want to make this Indian salad ahead of time, keep the dressing and peanuts on the side and combine them with veggies and chickpeas just before serving.
What to Serve this Chickpea Peanut salad?
This vegan Indian salad with peanut and chickpeas is delicious on its own as a light lunch, dinner, or appetizer. It pairs well with soft yogurt flatbread or garlic naan bread without the yeast. You can also enjoy it as a side dish with your favorite Indian curries such as paneer curry and wholemeal chapatis too. For variety, try wrapping it along with lettuce, avocado, and air fried homemade falafels.
Quick vegan chickpea peanut salad recipe below
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