A popular snack in Malaysia, these coconut pandan crepes are made with coconut milk and fresh pandan extract. The filling is a mixture of melted palm sugar and freshly grated coconut.
Palm sugar can be made from any variety of palm tree including coconut (coconut is a variety of palm but, in consumer terms, palm sugar and coconut sugar are not synonymous). Palm sugar is sold in cakes. Depending on the palm variety from which it was made, palm sugar cake may be beige, golden brown or dark brown.
It might be tempting to use pandan extract to cut down on the preparation but, if you want the natural flavor and color of pandan, and if you want to get the feel of making this snack the authentic way, there’s nothing like grinding pandan leaves to get the bright green aromatic water.
Kuih Dadar (Coconut Pandan Crepes)
Recipe by
Ingredients
For the filling
- ½ cup chopped palm sugar
- 1 ½ cups freshly grated coconut
- 1 pinch salt
For the crepes
- 10 pandan leaves
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup coconut milk
- palm oil for brushing the pan
To garnish
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
Make the filling
- Place the chopped palm sugar in a thick-bottomed pan and add a tablespoon of water. Melt over medium-low heat until fully dissolved.
- Stir in the grated coconut and salt. Continue cooking, stirring often, for a minute or two or until quite dry.
- Cool the filling.
Make the crepes
- Cut the pandan leaves into small pieces. Place in the food processor or blender and add half a cup of hot water. Steep until cool. Process until finely chopped.
- Stain the leaves to get the extract.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
- Pour in the pandan extract and coconut milk. Stir until smooth.
- Heat a crepe pan (or an ordinary frying pan) and brush lightly with oil.
- Pour about a quarter cup of the crepe batter and swirl the pan to make the batter spread thinly.
- Cook the crepe just until set. Flip and cook for a few seconds longer.
- Repeat until all the batter has been used.
Assemble the coconut pandan crepes
- Lay a crepe flat on a plate.
- Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling across the center.
- Fold in the two sides then fold in the side nearest you. Roll the crepe outward to completely seal the filling.
- Repeat until all the crepes have been filled or until you run out of filling.
- Sprinkle the coconut pandan crepes with toasted sesame seeds before serving.
