Remove chicken from bone and keep aside, (reserving bones and cartilage for bone broth or another round of soup, if you can!). Wash and chop onion and tomato. Prep whole spices (cloves, cinnamon, cardamom) in a small bowl, and ground spices (coriander, turmeric, chili and salt) in a separate small bowl. Have curry leaves, ginger-garlic paste and lime juice at the ready. Set water to boil, and when boiled keep aside.
Cook
Tadka (temper the spices): Heat a large, heavy bottomed sauté pan to medium heat. When warmed, add the oil. When oil has heated, add the whole spices, tossing the pan a bit to move/turn the spices, careful not to let them scorch.
Cook the base: When fragrant, add the onions and stir to coat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until they soften. When soft, add the curry leaves, and continue to cook the onions a few minutes longer, until they begin to brown. Add green chili and stir to combine, cooking for one minute. Then add ginger-garlic paste, stirring to combine and cook for a few minutes, until fragrant and begins to start to stick to the pan. Add the dry spices and stir to combine, again cooking until fragrant, then quickly add the tomatoes and any juice. Stir to combine well, and using the liquid to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook until it all cooks down a bit and melds into one uniform mixture, adding a teaspoon of water when it seems to be drying out and/or sticking to the bottom.
Fry the Chicken: When the vegetables have melded and cooked down, add the chicken, lime juice and a 1/4 cup of hot water. Stir to coat and continue to break up the chicken as it warms and begins to fry. When water is nearly gone, taste and adjust seasoning. adding hot water if needed to prevent sticking as flavor is tweaked.
Serve: Serve immediately, with hot parathas, and the above accompaniments. We love to eat it like a taco, layering meat, onions, chilis and cilantro onto the paratha and folding to eat. Mmmm. my mouth is watering and I just may need to make this tonight. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.