Dadar Gulung: Rolled Pancake With Coconut And Palm Sugar
Dadar Gulung
Dadar Gulung—rolled pancakes—are sweet snacks made of pandan-flavored pancakes with coconut and palm sugar filling.
Dadar means pancake and gulung means rolled. It’s one of Indonesia’s popular Jajan Pasar (street food). It is often sought after for happy occasions such as celebrations, etc.
In Indonesia, gatherings or celebrations will have savories and sweets as the starters. And this Dadar gulung often becomes among them. Well, at least that’s what we choose when we have gatherings in my family and friends.
Because this pancake is simply tasty and 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 mostly served for indulgent breakfast, Indonesian people enjoy Dadar gulung as an accompaniment for afternoon coffee/ tea.
And sometimes they serve it as desserts. Very rarely, actually. Because desserts in Indonesian cuisines will be more like agar-agar milk pudding, pie or cakes.
Easy Peasy Ingredients
Nowadays, you can get pretty much any food ingredient from all over the world, right? So, getting the ingredients for this Dadar gulung will seem easy peasy. You don’t need too many items, and they’re available in many Asian shops.
You will only need seven ingredients for this recipe besides the usual water and salt. They are plain flour (all-purpose flour), eggs, coconut milk, pandan paste, shredded/ grated coconut, palm sugar (jaggery), and pandan leaf.
You can buy grated coconut in frozen packs from Asian shops. 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 coconut flesh.
If you can’t get any of them, you can use desiccated coconut (as a last resort). But you must add more water and cook it longer to soften it. And bear in mind its texture will be slightly drier and tastes less creamy.
Try your best to get palm sugar (coconut sugar) if possible. 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 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 put a little bit more pandan leaf so the fragrance of your filling will still be tropical. Ha.
How to Make Rolled Pancake With Coconut and Palm Sugar Stuffing
It’s basically like making ordinary pancakes or crepes. You mix all the pancake ingredients and whisk them until you get a smooth batter without lumps. Set aside while you make the coconut stuffing.
As for the filling, you 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 need any oil or fat on your frying pan. 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 on the pan and wipe it all over with a kitchen towel.
To assemble, spread a tablespoon of coconut filling on a pancake, fold it on both sides and roll it over.
Best to Enjoy with
In Indonesia, people will enjoy their late afternoon snacks with coffee or tea.
There are endless choices for snacks that can be savory or sweet. And Dadar Gulung can be an option for the latter.
Look at the following: savory and sweet for your next afternoon cuppa.
- Klepon: glutinous rice balls with palm sugar and coconut.
- Gemblong: Indonesian sweet treat made of glutinous rice.
- Kolak Biji Salak: sweet potato balls in palm sugar syrup and coconut milk.
Dadar Gulung: Rolled Pancake With Coconut And Palm Sugar
Equipment
- Frying pan
- Wooden spoon
- Ladle spoon
Ingredients
For the pancakes:
- 8.82 ounces plain flour all-purpose flour.
- A pinch of salt.
- 2 eggs.
- 13.53 ounces coconut milk.
- 11.83 ounces water.
- 1-2 teaspoons of pandan paste.
For the filling:
- 7.05 ounces grated coconut see the note.
- 5.29 ounces palm sugar see the note.
- 8 inches cm/ 7.88 in pandan leaf.
- 4.39 fluid ounces ml/ 4.39 fl.oz/ 0.26 pt 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 freshly grate the coconut. For this recipe, half of a big sized 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.
Disclaimer
Nutritional info in this recipe is only estimate using online calculator. You should refer to it as a guide only. Please verify with your own data if you seek an accurate info.
