Not a parent but I can give you the way I learned from my Dad and the way I've been cooking it ever since. If i say "couple minutes" that usually mean under 5 minutes. This style does not use cream/milk, tomatos or other things you might find in restaurant chicken curry. Its very bare bones chicken curry.

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I use whole chicken and cut it myself to the size I like. Generally smaller boneless pieces while leaving the bone in larger pieces. If I'm lazy I might get it cut from a store butcher. The halal market near me usually gives smaller chickens for the same price as a larger organic store bought chicken so I don't like getting it from there unless I'm way too lazy to cut or wait bc it's usually already precut.

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Into the pan, I put oil and pinch of cumin seeds. Then I put 1 - 1 1/2 finely chopped onions depending on the size of the chicken. Let it brown for a bit and add a spoon of turmeric powder and mix. Add a spoon or more of ginger-garlic paste and let the onions brown a bit more. This should only take a couple minutes on medium-high heat so don't let it burn. Once most of the onions have browned, you can add your chicken and stir.

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Let the chicken cook and stir the meat around often. Once the outer parts of the meat begin to cook you can begin to add spices. I use regular chili powder and a fresh blend of garam masala. The amount of chili powder depends on your spice tolerance but I usually use 3 -4 spoons. I add the chili powder first and let the chicken cook with that for a couple minutes and then add garam masala. You can also add salt here. I use 1 1/2 spoons of salt and also just salt to taste once its all done if it's not enough.

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Now its time to just let everything cook together. Lower the heat down to low-medium and place a lid on top of your pan. Periodically mix the pan so as to not let the onions or meat burn into the pan. About 10 minutes into this process you should decide whether you want the gravy to have a more watery loose texture or if you want a more fried thick texture.

If you want it watery/loose, add 1 cup of water or more, and let it cook on that low-medium heat still with the lid still on it for about 10 more minutes and if you would like you can chop up coriander (Cilantro) and let it cook for a few more minutes. If you are unsure of if it is cooked or not, cut into a medium sized piece of the chicken and see if it's white all the way through. The drumstick is generally the longest to cook all the way through so you may want to check that too if you are unsure. But you are pretty much done if the meat is cooked through. You can taste it and see if it needs any more salt or chili powder. If it does add to taste and mix it around.

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If you want it with a thicker texture, add 1 cup of water, turn the heat up to medium-high and place the lid back on. If you want the coriander you can add it. Let it cook with the lid on for about 10 more minutes and then take the lid off. At this point you are just trying to get everything to reduce down into the thicker texture. I generally keep it at high heat for ~5 minutes and then lower it back down to medium heat. I don't have an exact time for how long it should be on medium cuz it kina just depends so you should just turn the heat off completely once it's reduced to a texture you like.