The irresistable Frankie

During the college days, my sister and me would wait for weekends just to have yummy Frankies.  The famous place where they serve made-to-order frankies were in front of Globus, not sure if it exists now.  A couple of them and we were full.  Those were carefree and fun days with nothing to worry about, missing those years a lot.  If possible, would love to relive and relish those days again.  My sister was a good partner in all our masti, be it good or adventurous.  And, of course we had loads and loads of friends.  It was a mix of mine and my sister's friends, so a birthday party would contain a minimum of 25 to 30 friends and full all day around.  We had a scooty to move around Chennai and within months, we were able to find our ways through gullys and narrow lanes to explore the best food in the city.  Not to miss the Dosa in Karpagambal mess in Mylapore near the Chithrakulam tank, hot bondas from Sangeetha, hot and fresh polis from Poli corner, the tender coconut water and the goodies of Grand sweets. Another favourite of ours was the freshly roasted groundnuts from a small shop in Mylapore, this shop still exists.

Now,coming back to the Frankie recipe - I found that with small additions of chutneys and lemon juice, it enhanced the taste of it.  Here are the ingredients:

Potatoes - 3 big cubed

Carrots   - 2 chopped
Onion     - 1 medium size finely chopped
Capsicum - 1 chopped
Panneer - 1 cup cubed
Wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Maida - 1 1/2 cups
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala powder- 1 tsp
Chaat masala
Coriander leaves - 4 tbsp finely chopped
Butter - as desired
Lemon - 2 nos.
Coriander chutney
Tamarind chutney

In a pan, add oil and then the chopped onions and once it turns translucent, add potatoes, carrots, and capsicum. Add salt, garam masala powder and red chilly powder and cook it in low heat till the veggies are just done. Mix the cubed panneer. Allow it to cool.

Knead maida and wheat flour into a dough.  Take a small ball of the dough and roll it very thin to about  6" diameter. Apply butter on one side of the rolled dough and cook it with the butter side down in a tava in medium flame.  Once this side is done, take it out and place on a plate and add the veggies mix in a thin line, add a few drops of lemon juice, some very finely chopped raw onions, coriander chutney, tamarind chutney and finely chopped coriander and finally little chaat masala to the veggies mix.

Wrap it with a parchment paper or foil and ur frankie is good to go.

This is a perfect snack and very apt for parties and picnics.

'Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside' - Mark Twain