Chicken Varatti / Chicken fry

Hope you all had a merry Christmas .
Now its the time for one of my favorite recipe.
I like it because of two reasons, 1) its chicken and 2) its spicy and 3) its easy to make. Now that makes three reasons ..anyway we r not dealing with maths here. So here goes the recipe.

1/2 kg chicken(doesn't really matter that it has to be exactly 1/2kg)
1 big onion chopped (i like onions with chicken so i usually put more, so its up to you, you can have 2 medium onions as well).
3-4 small green chillies (if u r using jalapeños, u need may be 1-2, i prefer the small chillies that r really hot )
1/2 " ginger chopped
3-4 garlic pods chopped
2 tbsp diced tomatoes (optional)
1tbsp tomato sauce(opt)
1tsp soya sauce(opt)

To marinate chicken u need
1tsp salt
1tbsp lemon juice (u dont have to have fresh lemon juice, i always used the lemon juice available in lemon shaped bottles in walmart)
1tsp turmeric pwd
1tsp chilly pwd
1-2 tbsp coriander pwd
2tbsp chicken masala
curd (optional, u can use curd if you dont have lemon juice, but i prefer lemon juice for chicken varatti)

Now heres the method. It would be grt if you buy boneless chicken. In either case cut the chicken to small pieces, an inch would be grt. The smaller the pieces, the more gravy on each piece and hence its tastier. So cut the chicken and marinate using all the powders mentioned above. It like adding all the spices that you find in your kitchen. Anyway marinate it for at least 1/2 hr. The more time you marinate, the more flavor gets into the chicken. While you marinate the chicken , chop the onion, ginger, garlic and chillies. Add 2 tbsp oil in a skillet or a non stick pan and saute onion, ginger, garlic and chillies till the onion turns pale/slightly brown. Now add the marinated chicken and saute. You need not add water. Water comes from the chicken. If you think its getting dry you can add a tbsp oil.But in most cases that wont be required. Stir occasionally and let the chicken fry in the pan. Stir occasionally, you dont need to burn your chicken. Once the chicken is brown on all sides, you may taste it and if thats good enough you can stop there. Or else you can add some diced tomatoes/ tomato sauce/soya sauce and get a slightly different flavor. I have tried adding all, adding one sauce and not adding any and i loved it each time. And also you can add some chopped chillies at the end, just a minute before you turn off the stove. It gives a good contrast to your recipe and it wont make the dish spicy.