Panini with leftover chicken tikka

Italian combinations are not the only possible ingredients for panini. These tasty grilled (or oven-heated) sandwiches are also a wonderful way to use up leftover Indian meats and curries. Whenever I make chicken tikka, for example, I always make extra so that we can have some panini a few days later.

Here’s what I like to do with the chicken tikka. You can use plain pre-cooked chicken and just add Indian spices to the sauce if want. Leave the chicken out, or substitute tofu if you’d like a vegetarian meal. These hearty sandwiches can be ready in under thirty minutes.

Panini with Chicken Tikka

Crusty bread slices or rolls, toasted
Shredded chicken tikka (or plain chicken seasoned spices from chicken tikka recipe)
Yogurt
Crushed tomatoes, fresh or canned
Chickpeas
Olive oil
Garlic, cumin, cayenne, salt, and allspice

Mix the shredded chicken with the yogurt and some cayenne pepper. Mash or process most of the chickpeas until roughly chopped. Stir in the rest of the chickpeas, some olive oil to moisten, and season with the spices listed.

Spread a layer of the chickpea mixture on each sandwich, top with the chicken mixture, and roll in foil to grill or heat in the oven. About 10 minutes at 350 does it.

Images: Cyndi Lavin