Rajma salad-Indian kidney bean salad

This rajma salad is a delicious Indian kidney bean salad that's vegan and gets ready in just 10 minutes. It makes a great side dish with a lot of main course dishes and is also filling enough to be enjoyed as a healthy meal. This protein-rich kidney bean salad is perfect for picnics, potlucks, and summer cookouts.

Bean salads are one of my favorite categories of salads- they are filling enough to be enjoyed as a meal and no matter how you make them they always taste so good. And, bean salads can be paired with a lot of different meals from different countries.

Today, I am sharing the recipe for Indian red kidney bean salad which is also called rajma salad. Rajma is the Hindi word for kidney beans.

The combination of delicious ingredients used in this protein-rich salad will definitely make it one of your favorite salad recipes.

It's a great meal option if you are on a weight loss journey.

This Indian kidney bean salad is vegan and gets ready in just 10 minutes.

What goes in rajma salad?

For this easy Indian-style kidney bean salad recipe, you will need the ingredients shown below:

Ingredient notes and substitute suggestions

• Cooked kidney beans: You can cook kidney beans from scratch or use canned beans too. If using canned beans, rinse them before adding them to the salad.
• Cherry tomatoes: I have used cherry tomatoes, but you can also use chopped Roma tomatoes or any other variety of tomatoes.
• Cooked sweet corn kernels: To use in this recipe, I microwaved frozen sweet corn kernels for a few minutes. You can also use canned sweet corn kernels, they are pre-cooked so you can add them directly to this bean salad. Fresh sweet corn kernels can also be used, cook them before using.
• Green chili: If your heat tolerance is low, remove the seeds of the chili, or skip it. Also, cut it into very fine pieces so that you don't get a big piece of chili in your mouth.
• Fresh herbs: Mostly in almost every Indian salad, only two fresh herbs are used- mint and cilantro (coriander leaves). Indian salads taste incomplete without them. I would not recommend using parsley in Indian recipes if you want to get an authentic Indian taste. You can also add chopped spring onions to this tasty salad.
• Cucumber: I have used Persian cucumber which has softer skin and seeds so there is no need to peel or deseed them. If you use Indian cucumber, peel them and also remove the seeds.
• Onion: Use red onion in Indian salads.
• Lime: Generally lime juice is used in Indian recipes but you can use lemon juice too if you prefer a slightly sweeter dressing.
• Roasted cumin powder: Don't use raw cumin powder in salads, raw cumin powder is used in dishes that get cooked after adding this spice. The taste of roasted cumin powder is quite different and it's sprinkled in dishes like salads, chaat, and raita. If you don't have roasted cumin powder, dry roast raw cumin powder in a pan on low heat until it becomes fragrant and changes color. It gets burned very fast so keep stirring while roasting. Else, you can dry roast cumin seeds and grind them to make roasted cumin powder.
• Red chili flakes: You can also use Kashmiri red chili powder instead of red chili flakes.
• Chaat masala: Chaat masala is a blend of Indian spices which is used to flavor salads, snacks, and savory street food in India. Instead of chaat masala, you can also add amchur powder (dry mango powder) to this salad. You can add both too.
• Black salt: It's a pungent rock salt that's used in many Indian salads and street food. If you don't have that use regular white salt or pink salt.

All the spices used in this recipe are easily available in almost every Indian grocery store and online too.

Other ingredient details and nutritional information are given in the recipe card ahead.

How to make (step-by-step instructions)?

To make this simple bean salad, follow the instructions given below:

Step 1: Make salad dressing by mixing lime juice, black salt, roasted cumin powder, chaat masala powder, red chili flakes, and ground black pepper, in a bowl. 

Step 2: Put cooked kidney beans in a large bowl. Add cooked sweet corn kernels, chopped vegetables, and herbs.

Step 3: Pour salad dressing on top.

Step 4: Gently toss. Check and adjust the seasoning.

Your delicious Indian salad with red kidney beans is ready to be enjoyed.

How to cook kidney beans from scratch?

To cook kidney beans from scratch, wash dried kidney beans and soak them in water for at least 7 hours.

After 7 hours, rinse the soaked beans and put them in a pressure cooker along with water around 1 inch above the level of beans, and some salt. Put on the lid of the pressure cooker and cook for 4-5 whistles on medium heat or until the beans are cooked without losing their shape. Allow the pressure to get released naturally then remove the lid. Strain and use the cooked beans in your recipes. Use the bean water in any other stew or soup recipe instead of plain water.

You can also cook the soaked kidney beans in an instant pot(electric pressure cooker). For that put the soaked beans, water, and salt in the instant pot. Put on the lid with the vent in the sealing position.

Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Allow the pressure to get released naturally. Strain the beans and use them in the recipe.

How to serve Indian kidney bean salad?

Serve this simple salad at room temperature or chilled as a side dish with any Indian or Middle Eastern meal.

You can enjoy it as a light meal, it's very filling and nutritious. Non-vegans may also enjoy it with a refreshing raita like cucumber raita, bean sprouts raita, onion raita, or potato raita.

This protein-rich salad can also be stuffed in wraps like falafel wrap or lettuce wrap.

How to store?

Store the leftover salad in an airtight container and refrigerate. Consume within 24 hours. Because of salt the vegetables will start releasing water and won't remain crunchy if left for a longer period. The salad will start tasting stale after 24 hours.

If you want to keep it fresher for another 1-2 days, add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to it.

Make ahead

If you want to do some preparation for this salad in advance, cook the beans and refrigerate for 3-4 days. You can also freeze cooked kidney beans for 6 months.

Recipe tips and tricks

• If you are cooking kidney beans at home, don't overcook otherwise they will get mashed when you mix them with other ingredients.
• Also, allow the kidney beans to reach room temperature before using them in the salad. If you start tossing hot beans they will easily get mashed. Fresh herbs and vegetables will also get slightly cooked if you mix them with hot beans.
• You can also use canned beans but strain and rinse them before using in the salad.
• Adjust the amount of seasoning to suit your taste.
• I have used Persian cucumber in this recipe, if you use the Indian variety of cucumber, peel and deseed it before using.
• Other vegetables like bell peppers and carrots can also be used in this salad.
• You may mix different kinds of beans like black beans, black-eyed beans, cannellini beans, chickpeas, etc, and use them in the recipe along with kidney beans.
• If you prefer a milder salad, either skip adding green chilies or remove its seeds before adding them to the salad. 
• Chop green chilies into very fine pieces so that you don't get very big hot chili pieces in every bite of your salad.
• Chaat masala also has salt in it so add black salt carefully.
• Instead of black salt, you can use regular white salt or pink salt too.
• Though generally oil is not added to rajma salad if you want you can add 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to it. It will not only make the salad more flavorful but will also increase the shelf life of the salad.

More easy kidney bean recipes

If you like kidney beans and want to try more kidney bean recipes then don't miss to check the following links:

• Kidney bean stew
• Mexican bean and rice
• Kidney bean curry
• Kidney bean enchiladas

More Indian salad recipes

If you enjoyed this recipe then you will also like the following easy Indian salad recipes:

• Lachha pyaz
• Spicy sweet corn salad
• Indian chickpea salad
• Kachumber salad
• Paneer salad
• Roasted peanut salad
• Indian baby potato salad
• Indian peanut salad