Bombay Street Food Special #6 – Aloo Cheese Frankies – Mumbai Style

As promised yesterday, today I’m going to share with you a meatless version of the delicious frankie – The Aloo Cheese Frankie. Potatoes and cheese – to me that’s a match made in heaven.

Check out the post on the Chicken Frankie for the naan roti recipe and instructions on how to assemble the frankie.

Aloo Cheese Frankies


For the Aloo Cheese filling – 


2 potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed
Salt, to taste
1/8 tsp chilly powder
A pinch of cumin powder
A pinch of turmeric powder
A pinch of amchur powder (dried mango powder)

Mix all the ingredients well. Check for seasoning and adjust if needed.

Here are the details on the recipe for the roti and the frankie assembly.

UPDATE: One thing I’ll probably try out the next time I make this, is I’ll make a long sausage of the mashed potato filling and lightly fry it off on a pan and then use it in the roll. I would love to see how that works out.

Bombay Street Food Special #5 – Chicken Frankies – Mumbai Style

Chicken frankies are yet another version of a chicken wrap, but yeah, Mumbai style. I don’t know what it is about wraps, but a lot of cuisines seem to have a version of their own. The Americans have the ever so versatile Wrap, the Mexicans have the burrito, the Asians have the spring roll, the Italians the calzone. In India we call wraps Frankies. It is another version of street food. Its not uncommon to see stalls around the city selling these wraps piping hot. Today, I’m going to show you how to make one from scratch in the comfort of your own home.

The street stalls have many varieties on offer. The Chicken, Mutton, Veg., Aloo, Egg are just a few. Then you also have the option of adding cheese to these wraps. And we know cheese makes everything better. I made a couple of these this time around – the chicken one for the meat lovers and the potato or Aloo version for those of you who don’t eat meat. We love them both. Today I will focus on the Chicken Frankie and stay tuned for the meatless version tomorrow.
Chicken Frankie

For the naan roti –
Makes 8 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp oil
2-3 eggs, whisked well
Mix the ingredients except the beaten egg in a bowl and using water, bind to a soft, pliable dough.
Divide into portions and roll out into a disk about 6″ in diameter. Make sure you don’t roll it out too thin. At the same time, it shouldn’t be too thick either.
Place it on a hot griddle or pan. Apply a few drops of oil on the top and spread it lightly using the back of a spoon. 
Turn it over. Spread a couple of spoons of the whisked egg on this side. (Some vendors use 1 beaten egg for every roll, you may use as much or as little egg as you like. I find about 2 spoons or whisked egg works fairly well.)
Once the egg has slightly set, turn over and cook on this side as well.
Once both the sides have cooked well, take off the pan and keep aside.
Note: I usually cook off all the rotis and keep aside. You don’t want to overcook it, since it needs to be warmed up again, just before you assemble. If you’re just making a couple of these, you can assemble them straight on at this stage.
For the filling – 
250g boneless chicken, cut into small pieces
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1″ ginger, finely chopped or grated
1 – 1 1/2 tsp amchur powder (dried mango powder)
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
Salt, to taste
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped
4-5 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Heat oil in a pan. Add the ginger and garlic and saute for a minute or so.
Add the chopped onion and fry off till the onion turns golden brown.
Add the chilly, garam masala, coriander and cumin powders and stir well.
Add the tomatoes and stir fry till the spices and tomatoes cook. The oil will start to separate around the edges of the vessel. The tomatoes should lose some of its moisture by now.
Add the chicken pieces and fry off, stirring well. You may add a tiny bit of water to cook it further. You need a moist filling, not a runny one. (I had some leftover chicken that was marinaded and gently cooked. To make you own, check out this post. Since the chicken was already cooked, I simply shredded the chicken and cooked it till it warmed through and absorbed all the flavors. You can add a tiny bit of stock or water if it seems too dry.)
Once the chicken has cooked, add the amchur powder, fresh chopped coriander and mint leaves and salt. Mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed.
Keep aside.
Onion salad mix – 
1 onion, finely chopped
A pinch of salt
1/4 tsp. chilly powder
A few drops lemon juice
Some fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Mix all the ingredients.
I usually keep the coriander leaves aside and use it as a garnish.
To assemble the frankies – 
Chaat masala
Cheese, grated

If you’ve made your rotis in advance. Place them on a pan and gently warm them up. 
Spoon some of the filling onto the roti. 
Sprinkle some of the onion salad on it. 
Sprinkle lightly with some chaat masala if desired.
Sprinkle some grated cheese, if you’re making a cheese version.
Top with some fresh chopped coriander leaves.
Wrap it up nice and tight and serve hot.
Here’s what they look like all done – 
Left – Aloo Cheese frankie
Right – Chicken Cheese frankie
Check back tomorrow for the Aloo Cheese version.
This recipe is linked to – 
A Little Birdie Told Me
Hearth and Soul

Gobhi Parathas

Parathas are one of my favorite breakfast items. Do you remember the Aloo Parathas and the Methi Parathas? If you haven’t seen those, you really should. Here’s another variation to the stuffed paratha that you can try. The method is the same as the one used for the Aloo Paratha except here we’re going to make a gobhi (cauliflower) filling.

Do you have a favorite paratha? Leave me a comment and let me know what it is. I’d love to try it out!

Gobhi Parathas


For the dough recipe and on how to make the parathas, click here.

For the Filling- 
1 head of cauliflower, washed and grated (Do not use the greens)
1″ ginger, grated
1 green chilly, finely chopped
Salt, to taste

Mix well and use a spoonful of this mix to stuff the parathas.

For details on how to make the parathas, go here.




This recipe is linked to –
My Meatless Mondays

Week 4 of 12WOCC – Chocolate Toffee Cracker Bars

This week I bring to you a treat like none I’ve ever tasted before. I’ve heard of love at first sight, but for me this was love at first bite, literally. The only thing I remember thinking as I savored every bite of this was “OH MY GOODNESS!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! And you know what, it wasn’t me. I wasn’t going crazy. My husband also thought this was one of the best treats we’d eaten ever. That is the highest honor and treat can every get in my home. And mind you, these little devious treats are addictive. For the fist time in a very long time, I found myself thinking of these bars every now and then and it took massive restraint to keep from wolfing these down.

I can’t really decide whether this is a cracker or a candy, but what I know is that this recipe is going to be treasured. I was really excited while making these bars because I got to use my new toy – the candy thermometer. Yes, I arrived at the decision that I had gone without one for too long. There were just so many wonderful delights out in blog land that called for a candy thermometer and I was done passing them by. So stay tuned and see what else I use this little magic wand of the sugar world for.
The Chocolate Toffee Cracker Bars are really quick and easy to put together. The most difficult part of this recipe was waiting for it to cool. By now you know, if there’s one thing I always struggle with, its the waiting 😉
Chocolate Toffee Cracker Bars
Adapted from: Baking with Lisa
Makes 35 bars
1 1/4 cups butter
35 Saltine crackers
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 can condensed milk (14 oz.)
350g semisweet chocolate chips (I used a bar, chopped into small pieces)
1 cup toasted almonds, roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
Line a 10″x15″ Jelly Roll pan with aluminium foil, shiny side up.
Melt 1/4 cup butter and brush the foil thoroughly with this melted butter. I didn’t need all of it though.
Line the pan with the crackers.
Combine the remaining butter and the sugar in a saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Boil the mixture till it registers 248ºF on the candy thermometer. 
Remove from the heat immediately and carefully whisk in condensed milk. Once the condensed milk has been incorporated well, pour it over the crackers, making sure they are all covered. 
Bake for 10 minutes. The top should be all brown and bubbly.
Scatter the chocolate all over the top and pop it bake into the oven for 5 minutes. 
Using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon spread the melted chocolate to make sure it covers the surface completely.
Sprinkle the coarsely chopped nuts all over and gently press down into the chocolate to make sure they stick.
Cool down and then refrigerate till the chocolate sets.
Invert the pan on a clean surface, peel back the foil and cut into bars. Keep refrigerated.
Cutting options – 
1) Cut along the cracker edges for generous cracker sized bars.
2) Cut into quarters for little bites
3) Cut in half for fingers

This recipe is also linked to –
Friday Potluck
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets For A Saturday

Here’s what the others have brought to the table this week – 

Aloo Tikkis – Potato Patties

The last couple of weeks have just passed me by. There are so many goodies that I’ve whipped up during this time, but I just haven’t gotten around to posting any of them yet. To top that I had the craziest weekend. We had the family over for lunch on Saturday, it was so much fun having them over, that’s 11 people and 3 dogs in all. Once they left, I had to focus on a real quick clean up since I had to complete an order of a kilo of handmade liqueur chocolates and a couple of dozen thank you bars for a Monday pickup. By the time Monday  arrived, I was ready to sleep it off. Of course, that was not possible. Even though things were so hectic, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Since I had very little time to put meals together in the last few days, I whipped up some of the quick but good stuff. One such treat is the Aloo tikki, or a potato cutlet. Its comes together fairly quick and is really tasty. I served it as a side but I think it would be really tasty in a vegetarian burger as well. This tikki is fairly versatile and you can add a few finely chopped veggies to it if you’d like. You need to add some bread crumbs to make these a little sturdier than they would ordinarily be. It also adds a lovely crunch to the tikkis.  This would be a great way to serve the kiddies their veggies, in a burger. I think they’d enjoy it. Try it out and let me know how it goes.
Aloo tikkis before frying
Aloo Tikkis

2 potatoes, washed, boiled and mashed
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 green chilly, finely chopped (optional)
Some fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Salt to taste
A pinch of chat masala (optional)
1/2 tsp red chilly powder or to taste
A couple of pinches of cumin powder
1-2 tbsp bread crumbs
Oil, for frying
Mix all the ingredients except the oil well. 
Check for seasoning and adjust if needed.
Shape into small cutlets.
Shallow fry in a pan.
Serve hot.