I just cut my chicken into pieces from the get go. I found that when the 20 minutes was up, there was still far too much liquid left so I cooked quite a bit off. The apple had totally disappeared in the dish; I think it disintegrated during the 20 minutes. I really had to adjust the seasonings. It needed more salt, pepper, garam masala. I think this was a nice way to use up both the leftover squash I had in the fridge and the apple sausage links that I had in the freezer.