Indian Coriander Pesto Chicken... an 'adapted' recipe

Let me assure you that there will be no 3 Idiots like controversy here. The opening credits for this recipe goes to Sandeepa of Bong Mom's Cook Book. All the way from USA.

I was looking for something new to make with chicken. It had to be non spicy as our throats were down. That's when Bong Mom put up her husband's dhone paate (coriander) chicken from the early days of their marriage. It seemed to fit the bill.

Here's the original recipe.

And here's my adapted version... I call it 'pesto' because of the ground coriander which forms the base of the dish.

Preparation
Take 750 g chicken and marinate it in 2 tablespoons of curd, 1 tablespoon each of coriander (dhaniya) powder, cumin (jeera) powder and turmeric powder and a teaspoon of sugar

Make the coriander 'pesto' by grinding a big bunch of coriander/ dhaniya/ cilantro along with an inch piece of ginger and 3,4 cloves of garlic and half a cup of water

The main dish

Heat two tablespoons of cooking oil in a pressure cookerAdd a tablespoon of white jeera/ whole cumin to this as the oil heats upAdd one finely chopped onion and stir till the onion becomes translucentAdd a tablespoon each of garlic and ginger paste. Stir till the paste darkensAdd one finely chopped tomato and stirAdd the chicken mix once the tomato goes soft and stir till the chicken begins to harden Add the coriander pesto and a tablespoon of salt Stir for two minutesClose the cooker and put the flame on highWait for 3 whistlesReduced the flame and let it cook for ten minutesThe dish is done ....

I had it with rotis the first day and rice the next day. Both worked well. You can spice it up by adding green chillies while making the pest mix. It tasted quite well flavoured and was fairly light.

And here, for the first time on Finely Chopped, is Banu. Cooking this dish as per my instructions ...