Indonesian Martabak Manis Recipe
Although Martabak Manis is famous in Indonesia, its origins trace back far from this Southeast Asian Island nation. The name "Martabak Manis" comes from the Arabic word mutabbaq, meaning "to fold," and it was introduced by Arab traders. Today, Martabak is enjoyed internationally, commonly found on the streets of Saudi Arabia, India, Malaysia, Thailand, and more. Martabak Manis is an Indonesian dish featuring sweet, chewy pancakes made from tapioca flour, often topped with ingredients like milk chocolate, peanuts, and condensed milk.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour – 2 ¼ cup
- Granulated sugar – ¼ cup
- Tapioca flour – 2 tbsp.
- Eggs – 2
- Water – 1 ¼ cup
- Vanilla extract. – 1 ½ tsp.
- Baking powder – 1 tsp.
- Baking soda – 1 tsp.
- Water – 3 tbsp
- For chocolate peanut filling:
- Unsalted butter – ½ cup
- Condensed milk – ⅓ cup
- Granulated Sugar – 2 tbsp
- Roasted peanuts, crushed – 1 cup
- Milk chocolate, chopped – ½ cup
Instructions
- Make the batter. In a medium size mixing bowl, stir the all-purpose flour, sugar and tapioca flour until combined.
- Making an indent in the center of the dry mixture, place the eggs, vanilla extract and water. Beat and mix together until smooth.
- Once smooth, keep stirring and beat the butter mixture to allow air into the forming dough. Press it against the sides of the bowl as you mix. Keep doing this for about 10 minutes until the mixture is sticky and slightly gooey.
- Set aside and leave it to rest in a warm temperature area for about 1-2 hours.
- Once the batter has rested, divide it into equal three parts and prepare to cook.
- Heat up your frying pan (recommended to have an 8-inch, heavy bottom pan) on medium-high. Test if the pan is ready by sprinkling a drop of water into it. If it almost immediately evaporates, the pain is ready.
- While waiting for your pain to heat, combine ⅓ of your baking powder and baking soda in a small bowl. This should be a little over ¼ tsp of each. Add in 1 tablespoon of water and stir until powders are dissolved.
- Combine this mixture with the batter, mixing until fully incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the frying pan and being careful of your speed, rotate the pan to evenly spread the batter into a layer that goes nearly halfway up the sides of the pan.
- Cook on medium heat while continuing to move the pan, to ensure equal heat distribution.
- When the pancake is halfway cooked and begins to bubble, cover with 1 teaspoon of sugar and cover the pan on low heat. Keep rotating the pan.
- Once fully cooked, carefully peel up the edges with spatula and put the pancake onto a flat surface. Spread butter and condensed milk on it, then some of the chopped chocolate and chopped peanuts.
- Now cut the pancake along the middle and fold over in half.
- Spread butter on both sides and then cut into fifths or sixths.
- To cook the remaining batter, simply follow steps 7- 14 again.
Notes
- The goal is to get a fluffy, bubble-filled pancake by the end. Even and constant heat distribution is crucial for this: make sure you are continuing to move the frying pan as the pancake is cooking.
- Whisk the batter for 10 minutes. The gluten in the batter will provide a nice chewy texture and the mixing makes this happen. You cannot overmix this batter.
- Allowing the batter to rest allows the gluten to activate and give that chewy texture.
Nutrition
Calories: 279kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 7gCholesterol: 45mgSodium: 182mgFiber: 2gSugar: 13g
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