Whole spices are suggested because they retain their flavor much longer, and thus tend to have richer flavors, even if they are not fully extracted. The reason for this is that they have less surface area, so volatile flavor oils do not evaporate away as easily, and other parts of the taste do not get oxidized. They are also easier to strain out of the mixture, so they don't give an overpowering flavor or leave a gritty residue.
So, yes, you are wasting some of the flavor, but in exchange you get more of the subtle flavor compounds that ground spices tend to lose. Note also that steeping in milk will extract considerably more of the flavor from whole spices, because a lot of the smell and taste comes from chemicals that are more soluble in fat than water.
As another option, instant chai blends dissolve completely, but tend to lack the more subtle flavors of the spices.
It depends what you are making and how you are cooking the chicken:
If what you intend to create is some sort of long-cooked "pieces of meat in sauce" then leave the meat on the bones and simmer for an hour or so. The bones will give much more flavour. When the meat is tender, remove it from the bones, which will be easy, cut it up and put it back in the sauce, and keep going. I do this for curry, stew, and the like.
If you intend to give each person a recognizable piece of chicken, such as a grilled breast or a grilled leg, leave the bones in, serve it on the bone, and let the person deal with it.
If your plan is to cook the chicken for a very short time, such as a stir fry, then remove it from the bones first and cut it up. It will have less flavour but it will cook quickly.
Chicken breast is easiest to debone, and legs are harder - I use legs for the long-cooking and leave the bones in, and breasts for the short cooking and debone and cut them up first.
Best Answer
Do you mean sautee? Or deep fry?
Typical deep fry recipe would be to incorporate spices into the flour: add your salt, pepper, paprika, etc to the batter, then fry.
If you sautee, your chicken strips should be seasoned like follows: first, rub in a small to medium amount of kosher salt (not table salt). Let sit for 15+ minutes to season / brine the meat. Best would be a water brine, but I'm guessing that's too fussy for you.
Now, cook up the chicken strips in the pan. Most dry spices I could imagine adding could go in towards the end of the sautee, stuff like cayenne and so on. Garlic or onions would be added first before the chicken, and cooked until soft, but not too brown.