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Green pandan pancakes rolled around sweet coconut and palm sugar filling. This Indonesian jajan pasar classic is easier to make than it looks.

Dadar Gulung

Dadar Gulung – which literally means rolled pancakes – are sweet snacks made of pandan-flavored pancakes with coconut and palm sugar filling. It’s one of the popular Jajan Pasar (street food) items in Indonesia.

Dadar means pancake, and gulung means rolled. It’s one of the popular Jajan Pasar (street food) items in Indonesia. And it is often sought after for happy occasions, such as celebrations.

A pile of green rolled pancakes on a wooden chopping board.

In Indonesia, gatherings or celebrations will have savory and sweet dishes as starters. And this Dadar gulung often becomes one of them. Well, at least that’s what we choose when we have gatherings with my family and friends.

Because this pancake is simply tasty, it can be deceiving. It tastes delightfully light. Next thing you know, you’ll have had many of those.

And the coconut filling is perfect for coconut lovers. It has the sweetness and fragrance of caramelized palm sugar mixed with creamy shredded coconut. It’s just delicious.

Snacks or Dessert

Unlike western pancakes, which are served mostly for indulgent breakfasts, Indonesian people enjoy dadar gulung as an accompaniment to afternoon coffee/ tea.

And sometimes they serve it as a dessert. Very rarely, actually. Desserts in Indonesian cuisine are more like agar-agar milk pudding, pie, or cake.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

It’s naturally dairy-free without trying to be. Coconut milk adds richness to the batter, so nobody’s swapping ingredients or asking questions about what’s in it. It just happens to work that way.
The filling is only three real ingredients. Grated coconut, palm sugar, and pandan leaf are cooked down until dry. No long list to shop for, no obscure pastes you’ll use once and forget about.
You control the green. Pandan paste goes on a little at a time, so you decide whether you want a pale hint of color or something bold and vivid. Nobody’s telling you the “right” shade.
It travels well. Rolled and cooled, these hold their shape in a lunchbox or on a plate at room temperature for hours. Half the desserts I make can’t say that.
Palm sugar does something white sugar can’t. It brings a caramel, almost smoky depth to the filling that regular sugar just doesn’t have. Once you’ve tasted the difference, you’ll want it in more than just this recipe.
It’s a make-ahead dessert that doesn’t suffer for it. Cook the pancakes and filling separately, store them, then assemble right before serving. No last-minute scrambling.
It’s a small, satisfying bite instead of a heavy dessert. One or two rolls are enough. You get the coconut, the sweetness, and the pandan fragrance without needing a huge slice of something to feel satisfied.

Easy Peasy Ingredients

Nowadays, you can get pretty much any food ingredients from all over the world, right? So, getting the ingredients for this Dadar gulung will seem easy peasy. Because you don’t need too many items and they’re available in many Asian shops.

Apart from the usual water and salt, you will only need seven ingredients for this recipe. They are plain flour (all-purpose flour), eggs, coconut milk, pandan paste, shredded/ grated coconut, palm sugar (jaggery), and pandan leaf.

These days, you can buy grated coconut in frozen packs from Asian shops. If it’s not available to you, you can grate the coconut yourself. For this recipe, one whole coconut is more than enough. Just make sure you peel the brown skin of the coconut flesh.

If you can’t get any of them, you can use desiccated coconut (as a last resort). But you will have to add a little more water and cook it a bit longer to soften it. And bear in mind, its texture will be slightly drier and taste less creamy.

If possible, try your best to get palm sugar (coconut sugar). If you shop at an Asian Indian/ Pakistani shop, it’s also called jaggery. Because this sugar is just the best pair for the coconut. The two make the filling irresistibly good.

However, it’s not the end of the world if you can not get palm sugar. Dark soft brown sugar or dark muscovado sugar will suffice as a substitute. When you do, ensure you add a little more pandan leaf so the fragrance of your filling stays tropical. Ha.

How to Make Rolled Pancake With Coconut And Palm Sugar Stuffing

It’s basically like making ordinary pancakes or crepes. So, you mix all the pancake ingredients and whisk them until you get a smooth, lump-free batter. Set aside while you make the coconut stuffing.

As for the filling, you just mix all the ingredients and cook it until all the liquid evaporates. This will leave you with a sticky and moist coconut mixture.

When you fry the pancake, you don’t really need any oil or fat in your frying pan. Because the coconut milk in the batter acts as the fat/ oil for the pancake. But if you feel you must, you can just put a drop of oil in the pan and wipe it all over with a kitchen towel.

To assemble, spread a tablespoon of coconut filling across a pancake, fold it over on both sides, and roll it up.

A stack of Dadar Gulung - the Indonesian pandan pancake with coconut and palm sugar filling.

Substitutes and Variations

No fresh coconut? Frozen grated coconut from an Asian grocery store works just as well once thawed. Desiccated coconut is a last resort — it works in a pinch, but the filling comes out drier and loses the creamy texture fresh or frozen coconut gives you.
No coconut palm sugar? Dark soft brown sugar or dark muscovado sugar is the closest substitute. You’ll lose a little of the deep caramel note palm sugar brings, but the filling still holds together and tastes good.
No pandan paste? Fresh pandan leaves, blended with a little water and strained, give you a more natural juice you can use instead. You’ll need more of it than paste to get the same color, so add it gradually and check the shade as you go.
Want a firmer filling? Cook it a few minutes longer than the recipe states, stirring constantly. The drier the filling, the easier it is to roll without spilling out the sides.
Prefer a smaller batch? Halve the pancake batter and filling quantities evenly — the ratios scale down cleanly without needing any other adjustments.
No pandan leaf for the filling? A drop of pandan paste stirred into the filling while it cooks works as a substitute, though the color may change a bit; the taste will be equally good.

Best to Enjoy With

In Indonesia, people enjoy their late-afternoon snacks with a cup of coffee or tea.

There are endless snack choices, both savory and sweet. And Dadar Gulung can be an option for the latter.

Take a look at the following savory and sweet treats for your next afternoon cuppa.

Indonesian rolled pancakes with coconut stuffing - Dadar Gulung.

Dadar Gulung: Rolled Pancake With Coconut And Palm Sugar

4.80 from 5 votes

Dadar Gulung – which literally means rolled pancakes – are sweet snacks made of pandan flavoured pancakes with coconut and palm sugar filling. It tastes delightfully light and simply delicious.

BY: Devy

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Prep : 20

Cook : 30

Total : 50

Servings: pieces

Equipment

Ingredients

For the pancakes:

9 ounces plain flour all-purpose flour.
A pinch of salt
2 eggs
14 fluid ounces coconut milk
12 fluid ounces water
1-2 teaspoons of pandan paste

For the filling:

7 ounces grated coconut see the note.
5.5 ounces palm sugar see the note.
8 inches pandan leaf
½ cup water
A pinch of salt

Instructions

For the filling:

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook it at moderately low heat until all the liquid evaporates. Keep stirring every so often and take care not to let the bottom get burnt.
Your filling is ready when it is fairly dry without runny liquid.

For the pancakes:

Place the eggs, coconut milk and water in a measuring jug. Stir well until all mixed.
Sieve the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Then make a well in the center and slowly pour in the egg mixture as you carefully stir it with a hand whisk.
Keep whisking until you get a smooth batter.
Then add in 1-2 teaspoons of pandan paste according to how green the colour of pancakes you want to be. Continue mixing until you get a smooth green batter.
Now, heat a drop of oil in a frying pan and wipe it across the pan with a kitchen towel. Then ladle in the pancake batter to the pan and cook it at medium heat. Rotate the pan to ensure the batter spreads evenly. Cook the pancake for about 1 minutes on each side.
Continue cooking the pancake until all the batter is finished.

To assemble:

Take one piece of pancake and place it on a plate. Put about 1-2 teaspoons of coconut filling across the centre of the pancake. Fold both sides and roll it over.

Notes

If you can, try to grate the coconut fresh. For this recipe, half of a large coconut is enough. However, if this is not possible, you can use frozen grated coconut, which is available at Asian shops. Or, you can use desiccated coconut as well. Though the latter tends to feel drier and doesn’t offer a creamy taste to the filling.
Ideally, you use coconut palm sugar (jaggery). If this is not available to you, feel free to swap it with dark soft brown sugar or dark muscovado sugar.

Nutrition

Devy Dar

Devy founded So Yummy Recipes to share her love of food after exploring various cultures and cuisines for more than two decades. Her mission is to help others easily recreate traditional and non-traditional food with readily available ingredients. Her works have been featured in Reader’s Digest, Al Jazeera, MSN, Yahoo, Bon Appétit, and more.