How to make Frankies! Flavorful Indian Burritos made with curry mashed potatoes, chickpeas, cauliflower, spinach, pickled onions and amazing Cilantro Mint Chutney! Vegan and Gluten-free adaptable. With a Video!
The sun shines not on us, but in us. John Muir
What is a Frankie?
Frankies are India’s flavorful street food, also known as the Mumbai Burrito, Bombay Burrito, or roti wrap – this vegan version is filled with curry mashed potatoes, roasted Indian cauliflower and chickpeas, fresh spinach, Cilantro Mint Chutney and Pickled onions, all wrapped up in a warm tortilla.
Healthy and seriously bursting with flavor! Traditionally these would be wrapped in freshly made roti with a very thin layer of egg, but we’ve simplified things here a bit. 😉
In our catering business, we would often serve Frankies as mini tacos. Flavorful little Indian Tacos, always a huge hit! If going grain-free or gluten-free, you could easily turn the whole thing into a “bowl”, with the curry mashed potatoes (or basmati rice) as the flavorful base.
If you have meat-eaters in your household, feel free to add chicken, which you could roast right alongside the cauliflower.
How to Make Frankies!| 60-second video
So, to be upfront, there are several components here. They all work together to create a beautiful balance of flavors, so pick a day when you have a little extra time. Read the recipe through, so you are clear on what you’ll need and the steps. It’s not hard and in the end, I promise it will be well worth it.
Components of an Indian Burrito:
- Curry Mashed Potatoes (the “spread” that holds it together)
- Roasted cauliflower- Chickpea mixture (the filling)
- Cilantro Mint Chutney. ( THE FLAVOR) Don’t even think about leaving this out.
- Pickled Red Onions
- Tortillas
- Spinach or greens
The Cilantro Mint Chutney is essential, so please don’t skip this. It adds so much flavor!!!
Here are the Quick Pickled Onions – another 5 minutes! I promise you’ll find a million uses for any leftovers.
The curry mashed potatoes give the burrito a beautiful creamy richness and help keep everything together. I know they may sound strange at first, but trust me, they really work here.
Once the curry potatoes and roasted veggies are done… start layering, starting with a toasty warm tortilla. Feel free to use GF tortillas or wraps.
Generously spread the tortilla with the curry mashed potatoes.
Then top the Curry Mashed Potatoes with the roasted Indian cauliflower, chickpeas, spinach, colantro chutney and pickled onions.
Wrap it up like a burrito, and serve warm.
Prepare to be delighted.
If you work efficiently several things can be “working” at the same time.
Also, both the Cilantro Mint Chutney and pickled onions can be made ahead.
So much flavor here friends!
This is a meal unto itself, but if you feel like you must serve it with something, I would pick an Indian-inspired salad or side!
- Indian Spinach Salad with Lentils & Cauliflower
- Bombay Carrot Salad
- Indian Lemon Rice
- Indian Masala Street Corn
I’m so excited for you to try this delicious Frankie recipe! I know you will love it. Please rate and leave your comments/adaptions below.
Happy Week!
xoxo
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Frankie Recipe
- Prep Time: 40
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Vegan Main, vegetarian
- Method: Roasted
- Cuisine: Indian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A delicious recipe for Frankies- India’s street food, also called a Mumbai Burrito or Bombay Burritos. Filled with curried potatoes, roasted cauliflower and chickpeas, spinach, cilantro mint chutney and pickled onions. Vegan! GF adaptable. It requires a few components- but well worth it!
Ingredients
Curry Mashed Potatoes (The “Spread”)
- 16 ounces baby potatoes – quartered
- 1 tablespoon ghee, olive oil or coconut oil, more to taste
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2–3 teaspoons yellow curry powder ( see notes)
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion or granulated garlic powder ( you could also incorporate sautéed onion and garlic into the potatoes for more flavor- see notes)
Roasted Cauliflower & Chickpea (Filling):
- 1 head cauliflower- cut into small florets
- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained well
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon coriander
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- generous pinch chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon whole fennel seed ( optional, or use cumin seed or coriander seed)
- 1 teaspoon whole coriander seed (optional)
Burrito Fixin’s:
- 4 x extra-large, whole wheat tortillas – or feel free to use GF wraps or tortillas, or GF bowls using the mashed potatoes and extra spinach and the base.
- 2 handfuls baby spinach
- Few tablespoons Cilantro Mint Chutney (imperative!!!)
- Few tablespoons Quick Pickled Onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F
- START POTATOES: Cut potatoes and place them in a medium pot, covered with water and simmer until very tender, about 15-20 minutes. At the same time…
- ROAST VEGGIES: Cut the cauliflower into small florets and place them on a parchment-lined sheet pan ( to one side). Add the drained chickpeas to the other side. Drizzle both with olive oil. Sprinkle cauliflower and chickpeas with the spices and salt, tossing to coat well. Place in the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes tossing halfway through) or until cauliflower is tender.
- SAUCE: Make the flavorful Cilantro Mint Chutney and quick pickled red onions and place both in jars (of course, you could make these both ahead). They take about 5-10 minutes each. Please don’t leave out the mint chutney- it’s imperative!!!
- CURRIED POTATOES: Once the potatoes are very tender, drain but save about 1 cup of the hot water. Place the potatoes back in the pot and mash with some of the hot water ( start with ¼-½ cup ) salt, spices and ghee (or oil) and mash the potatoes to combine until smooth. You want a fairly loose, spreadable mash so add more hot water if necessary. Scrape down the sides. Stir well. Taste. You want this to taste flavorful and slightly salty as the tortilla will mute some of the salt and flavor. Feel free to add more ghee or oil as you please for extra richness. Cover and keep warm.
- When the roasted veggies are done, ASSEMBLE: Warm the tortillas either in the oven, over a gas flame or over a grill, until soft and pliable. Spread generously with the curried potatoes, then top with chickpeas, cauliflower making sure to get some of the whole spices that will have dropped to the bottom of the pan. Add a handful of spinach leaves, a few teaspoons of cilantro mint chutney and some pickled onions and roll up like a burrito. Keep warm in the oven until ready to serve, or serve immediately! You can also refrigerate and reheat for meals on the go.
- Enjoy! Rate and Leave a comment!!
Notes
Quick yellow curry spice:
- 2 Tablespoons ground coriander
- 2 Tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 1/2 tsp ground white pepper ( or black)
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 extra large wraps
- Calories: 490
- Sugar: 6.2 g
- Sodium: 1573.1 mg
- Fat: 15.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 77.1 g
- Fiber: 11.7 g
- Protein: 14.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: Indian Frankie Recipe, Frankies, how to make frankies, frankie recipe, frankie recipes, what is a frankie, indian burritos, vegan frankie, vegan frankies, indian street food recipes
We love this recipe! It’s easy to make and SO flavorful.
★★★★★
Thanks Helene!
All I can say about this recipe is WOW! I have made it a few times and it’s always a hit! Definitely make the cilantro mint chutney and pickled red onions because it adds such a punch to the flavors of ingredients.
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed this on Angela!
Frankies, where have you been all my life? 🙂
I love Indian food, but had never heard of these. Absolutely delicious, thanks for the excellent recipe!
The only thing I would add is that I think the fresh spinach is crucial, as it adds a lot of freshness and a nice crunch.
★★★★★
Thanks Robert!
Sooo good!!! Definitely heed the warning about how it is time consuming, but very worth it!
★★★★★
Glad you liked it!
Fantastic! Made these oil free and wrapped the filling in lavosh wraps with greens.
Worth the time for sure.
★★★★★
Perfect Jayne!
This recipe for the Bombay Burritos is incredibly flavorful. We enjoyed them so much that I made them two days in a row. The only suggestion I’d make is to give yourself extra time as the recipe in its entirety took long to make, but it was definitely worth the wait.
★★★★★
Thanks Angela! It does go a bit faster the second go-around!
Hi Sylvia!
I’m a huge fan of your recipes and this one looks amazing. Could these burritos be meal-prepped at the beginning of the week and then eaten throughout the week, or do you they only work when assembled fresh?
Also what are your thoughts on prepping these and freezing them to be pulled out and eaten later?
Thanks!!
★★★★★
Thanks Emma, I bet they could be assembled ahead then reheated (but leave the Cilantro Mint Chutney on the side). Not sure about freezing? Worth a shot- maybe try one?
Our family often makes extra and we wrap them in foil, and pull them out for lunch during the week. They are always delicious!
So good, what a great Omni nation of flavors. A bit of work with the Chutney and Onions but so worth it.
★★★★★
Thanks Mark- glad you gave it a go!
Thank you for such a delicious recipe — every component was just bursting with flavor! Got high praises from my mom, who is kind of skeptical that vegetarian dishes can be filling. Is the chutney supposed to be really runny? I added extra yogurt, but it still turned out watery. (Really flavorful, though.)
★★★★★
Awesome Jenn! Yes, it is a little runny- it should thicken when chilled.
The best wrap I’ve ever made! It is so flavourful!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed this!
I love this recipe and have now made it many times. Initially I thought there was too much chutney, turns out that we love it so much I have to double the quantity.
Is there any way you can add a favourites button to make recipes easier to find? Thank you for sharing such a rich source for healthy eating
★★★★★
Hi Anne- we are working on this!
Excellent
Yes! That is good news!!
This is excellent, thank you!
★★★★★
Thanks Andrea!
Not to stuck on this one,the potatoes made it a bit to dry tasting for me.First one of you recipes I have not enjoyed. Might just have been my cooking.
Shoot David- did you happen to make the chutney?
I am a huge fan of your recipes! It all started with Mulligatawny Soup and then I used the Clean Eating Guide to break a very destructive eating pattern. I use your recipes each and every week.
This week we tried Frankies and they were delicious! My husband loves them, too! The recipe was quick and easy to follow and the Indian Chutney was a five star addition!
Thanks so much Anna!
This is one of my all time favorite recipes! I love making it for my friends when they come over for dinner and it’s always a hit. The flavor combinations are wonderful and I love having left over pickled onions and chutney to use on other dishes!
★★★★★
Thanks Brittany!
This was very delicious and will definately be on the rotation! Thank you for sharing!!
★★★★★
Great Sharon, so glad you enjoyed!