This is a popular snack in Southeast Asian cuisine (kuih tayap in Malaysia or dadar gulung in Indonesia) where pandan is common ingredient, especially in cakes and sweets. Coconut filled pancake sweets are also quite common in South Asian cooking, panipol in Sri Lanka (literally sweet coconut), madakasan in Kerala and patishapta in Bengal are some of the common ones.

My preparation of this dessert is preservative-free with natural and common Asian ingredients. The vibrant green of the crepe, the palm sugar (gula melaka) and the coconut together is very attractive. The flavours of the pandan, coconut and palm sugar combine well to produce a satisfying sweet treat, which is probably why you’ll find these three flavours in many Southeast Asian desserts.

Preparation and cooking time: 20 minutes

Diet: Dairy free

Serving: serves 12

Ingredients

For pandan juice

• 3-4 pandan leaves sliced in 3cm strips
• 50ml water

For coconut fillings

• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup palm sugar, chopped or grated
• 2 pandan leaves, can be cut in to 2 pieces or knotted together

For crepe/pancake

• 1 cup plain flour
• 300ml coconut milk
• 50ml water
• 50ml extracted pandan juice
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil to grease the pan

Instructions

1. In a blender add pandan leaves and water, blend together, strain the juice and keep aside.
2. In a small pan add shredded coconut, grated palm sugar and knotted palm leaves and stir continuously in medium low flame until all the ingredients combine well, and transfer to a bowl. Palm sugar will melt in the heat, so no need to add water. If you prefer a moister filling, add 1-2tbsp water.
3. Sieve the plain flour and salt together, add coconut milk, water, pandan juice and egg and whisk well to make a smooth batter. 
4. Grease a flat pan over medium low flame with oil, pour 1/4cup batter in the centre and tilt the pan in a circular motion to coat evenly.
5. Cook for 2 minutes, the crepe batter will turn a little dark. Make sure to only cook one side of the crepe.
6. Gently remove the crepe from pan and transfer to a cooling rack.
7. Repeat this for remaining batter. Take care not to place the hot crepes over the cooled ones, as they’ll stick together. It is important to cool individually prior to stacking.
8. Place 1tbsp coconut in the centre of a crepe. Fold the left and right sides in and roll like a spring roll.

A non-stick pan is preferred as the pancake would be easier to extract.