Shrove Tuesday (also known as Pancake or Fat Tuesday) is on 13 February and I'm hankering for the coconut pancakes we used to devour as kids growing up in Bombay (Mumbai), India, every Pancake Tuesday.
For the uninitiated, Shrove Tuesday is traditionally a day for Christians to self-reflect and feast on fatty, rich food before 40 days of fasting, abstinence and penance for Lent in preparation for Easter.
Shrove Tuesday (like other Christian holy days such as Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and Easter) changes according to the Christian liturgical calendar. The focus on pancakes is believed to have arisen from the need to finish the fat, eggs and milk in the home before Lent began. And the best way to do this was to make pancakes, of course. Simple!
While Aussies might make stock-standard pancakes, in India, the Catholic community makes coconut-filled pancakes. One bite is all it takes for me to time-travel back to my nana's kitchen in Bombay (Mumbai) in the 1980s. How do I encapsulate a childhood food memory? Let me try. Picture a mini crepe made from a batter of flour, eggs and milk. Next, imagine a fresh coconut filling that's filled with jaggery, nuts, cardamom and rose water. This filling is spooned onto the crepe and then rolled up like a spring roll or a mango pancake.
Time to roll the pancakes. Source: Alison Rodericks
Imagine a fresh coconut filling that's filled with jaggery, nuts, cardamom and rose water.
At last, my dad would get to the coconut stall to choose the all-important coconut. The owner, a Muslim man named Ramzan, tended to make every noun plural when he spoke. These were not the tender coconuts with their thick green shells, but the more mature coconuts covered with husks that enveloped a thick white flesh that we used for cooking. With a firm whack of his koita (chopper), Ramzan would crack open the hard brown shell in half, deftly catching the sweet coconut water in a glass for me to drink. Refreshing!
Ingredients to make coconut pancakes. Source: Alison Rodericks
A mountain of fluffy white grated coconut would rise higher and higher, ready for the week ahead.
Co tome Shrove Tuesday, my nanna and mum would bustle about in the kitchen getting these coconut pancakes ready. A tantalising aroma of jaggery and coconut would waft through our home, punctuated by the telltale sound of the frying pan being hit onto a chopping board to release the crepes.
The coconut filling for the pancakes or crepes. Source: Alison Rodericks
Made with simple ingredients and a whole lot of love and for some reason, only on Pancake Tuesday.
Coconut pancakes
Makes 16-20
Ingredients
For the filling
- 250 g fresh coconut, grated
- 200 g jaggery, grated or caster sugar
- 50 g almonds and cashew nuts, chopped
- 50 g sultanas and currants
- 5-8 cardamom pods, seeds crushed
- 1 tbsp rose water
- 1 drop pink food colour
For the batter
- 200 g plain flour
- 2 eggs
- 200 ml milk
- 300 ml water
- 1 tbsp vanilla essence
- Pinch of salt
Method
- To make the filling, cook the jaggery or sugar and coconut on medium heat until the jaggery or sugar melts.
- Add the nuts, sultanas or currants, cardamom powder and rosewater, and cook for 5-10 minutes or until the mixture thickens and dries up.
- Add a drop of pink food colouring to tint the coconut filling.
- While the mixture cools, make the pancake batter.
- To make the batter, put all ingredients for the batter into a mixing bowl (I prefer to use a 1-litre Pyrex measuring jug).
- Using a whisk, mix until you have a smooth batter without any lumps. Keep aside to rest for 20-30 minutes at room temperature. You want a thin, flowing consistency, so check if you need to add more water after making a couple of crepes.
- To assemble the coconut pancakes, heat a 20 cm non-stick frying pan on low heat for a couple of minutes. You can brush the frying pan with a couple of drops of oil (not too much) after every 3-4 crepes if you feel the batter is sticking to the pan.
- Pour ¼ cup batter into the frying pan and swirl to coat the base. Cover the frying pan with a lid for 1 minute so that the top of the crepe cooks.
- Remove the lid and let the crepes cook for another minute. When the outer edge of the crepes starts to crisp up, loosen the edge all around with a spatula.
- Remove the frying pan from the heat. Flip and bang it firmly onto a clean chopping board to release the crepe. Leave aside to cool for a minute.
- Turn over the crepes so that the smooth side faces you. Put 2 tbsp of the coconut filling down the middle (like a sausage), but not too close to the edge.
- Fold one side over the filling, then the other 2 sides inward, and roll into a log (like a spring roll).
- Place the pancake seam-side down onto a plate and keep covered with a damp tea towel or paper towel.
- Repeat until you've used up all the batter and/or the coconut filling. Enjoy!
Notes
- Jaggery is unrefined, concentrated cane sugar made without separation of the molasses. It is available at Indian grocers. You can substitute it with white sugar.
- Fresh coconut is also available at Indian grocers.
