If you buy a chicken whole and wish to cook it in a curry or stew - considering that cooking the meat while it's still on the bone adds to the flavour immensely - you may need to joint it first of all. This sounds daunting but is actually pretty easy.

Lay the chicken on a wooden board and hold it down firmly. Pull the leg a little bit away from the bird so you can see the skin where the leg section joins the breast. With a sharp knife, cut down between the leg and the breast until you get to the join in between the leg bones and the rest of the bird - using a little force and tilting the knife, you can get through this. Cut through the sinews and the skin at the bottom of the leg and separate the section from the body. Repeat on the other side.

Take a pair of kitchen shears and find the bird's wishbone - from here make a diagonal cut with the shears until you reach the bottom of the wing joint on one side of the bird. Cut the wing off with a knife - taking a section of the breast meat too for a fair-sized portion. Repeat on the other side.

Cut what's left into two halves along the middle of the bird. then snip off the spare ribs and backbone. Trim the parson's nose - the bit piece of skin and fat at the end of the bird's cavity - and trim the six parts so that they're cleaner. You can also remove all of the skin, and cut the legs into thigh and drumstick sections.