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1
The chicken should be cut and disjointed into 8 pieces.
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2
The breast and thighs can also be cut in half again, if you prefer small pieces.
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3
Clean and singe, if necessary.
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4
Prepare the meatballs using 1 pound of ground beef and doubling the other ingredients in the recipe.
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5
In a 2 1/2-quart Dutch oven, slowly saute the chopped onion in 3 tablespoons of the fat until the onion is soft and yellow; do not let it brown.
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6
Remove and reserve.
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7
Add more fat to the pot if needed and brown the chicken pieces lightly until all sides are pale golden brown.
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8
Do this in several batches, as the chicken will not brown if crammed into the pan.
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9
Remove the chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and reserve.
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10
Return the onions to the pot and sprinkle with paprika.
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11
Saute for a minute or two, until the paprika loses its raw smell.
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12
Add the tomato juice and 1 cup water.
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13
Return the chicken to the pot and add the garlic cloves.
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14
The liquid should come about halfway up the chicken.
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15
Cover and simmer gently but steadily for 20 minutes.
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16
Gently and carefully add the meatballs to the pot, moving the chicken aside to make room and shaking the pot intermittently to separate the meatballs.
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17
These will be fragile while raw, but once cooked they will become firm and will not crumble or stick together.
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18
Add more liquid to the pot if needed.
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19
Simmer, loosely covered, for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until the chicken and meatballs are done.
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20
Remove the chicken and meatballs and skim the fat from the gravy.
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21
Return the chicken and meatballs and reheat, checking, the seasoning as you do so.
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22
Serve the chicken and meatballs with rice or noodles.
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23
If you plan to make this in advance, add a little water before reheating.
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24
Variations:
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25
Tomato juice was sometimes eliminated and only water used.
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26
Chicken stock can be used instead of water, but the flavor is, strangely enough, more intense and interesting when water is used, with or without tomato juice.
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27
Basically, this is a version of Hungarian chicken paprikash, but the Jewish version, because of kosher laws, eliminates sour cream.
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28
If you like, you can beat 2 tablespoons of sour cream into the gravy after the fat has been skimmed from it.
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29
Do not boil once the sour cream has been added; reheat by bringing to a slight simmer.
