Dadar Gulung (Indonesian Coconut Crepes)

About This Recipe

Dadar gulung are among the most elegant of Indonesia's traditional kue pasar (market sweets): thin crepes tinted vivid green from fresh pandan juice, wrapped tightly around a filling of freshly grated coconut cooked with gula Jawa (Javanese palm sugar) and a whisper of salt. The name literally means 'rolled pancake,' and the technique is deceptively straightforward — yet getting the pandan color deep enough, the filling dry enough to prevent sogginess, and the crepe thin enough to roll without cracking requires practice. Dadar gulung are tied to Javanese ceremony and daily market life alike, sold in woven bamboo baskets alongside onde-onde and klepon. The flavor is tropical and aromatic: the grassy sweetness of pandan, the caramel depth of palm sugar, and the milky richness of fresh coconut combine into something that tastes entirely of the Indonesian archipelago.

Ingredients

Serves 5

• 150 gall-purpose flour
• 2eggs
• 300 mlcoconut milk
• 100 mlfresh pandan juice (from 8–10 pandan leaves blended with 100ml water and strained)
• 0.25 tspsalt
• 1 tspvegetable oil
• 200 gfreshly grated coconut (or thawed frozen grated coconut)
• 100 ggula Jawa (Javanese palm sugar), grated or chopped
• 1pandan leaf, tied in a knot
• 2 tbspwater
• 1 pinchsalt (for filling)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the pandan batter

   Blend pandan leaves with 100ml water, strain through fine cloth, squeezing to extract maximum green juice. Whisk flour, eggs, coconut milk, pandan juice, salt, and oil into a smooth, thin batter. Rest 15 minutes.

   Fresh pandan juice gives a vivid green; extract from pandan paste produces a slightly more muted color but is easier to source.

2. 2

   Cook the coconut filling

   Combine grated coconut, gula Jawa, pandan leaf, water, and salt in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir continuously for 8–10 minutes until the palm sugar melts fully and the mixture is fragrant and slightly dry. Remove pandan leaf. Cool.

3. 3

   Cook the crepes

   Heat a non-stick 20 cm pan over medium heat, very lightly greased with a folded paper towel dipped in oil. Pour 3 tablespoons of batter and swirl to cover the pan. Cook 1.5 minutes until set and the edges begin to lift. Do not flip.

4. 4

   Fill and roll

   Lay the crepe cooked-side up. Place 2 tablespoons of coconut filling across the lower third. Fold both sides inward over the filling, then roll up from the bottom into a tight cylinder.

5. 5

   Repeat

   Continue until all batter and filling are used — you should get approximately 10 rolls. Stack loosely on a plate lined with pandan leaves for presentation.

Variations

• •

  Chocolate pandan version: add 1 tablespoon cocoa to half the batter for a marbled crepe.

• •

  Kaya filling: substitute coconut jam (kaya) for the palm sugar coconut filling.

• •

  Gluten-free: replace all-purpose flour with rice flour — the crepes will be slightly more fragile but still rollable.

Storage

Best eaten the day they're made. Store loosely covered at room temperature up to 6 hours. Refrigerate up to 1 day and steam briefly to soften the crepe before eating — do not microwave as they become rubbery.

Frequently Asked Questions