Place the ground beef in a large bowl. Add half of the diced onions, salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, black pepper, ½ tablespoon parsley, egg and the bread crumbs. Mix the ground beef with your hands until all of the ingredients are incorporated.
Form the ground beef into meatballs, roughly the size of a golf ball. Makes approximately 12 meatballs
Add enough oil to a large, deep skillet to cover the bottom by about ¼ inch. Heat the oil over medium-high. When the oil is hot, carefully add the meatballs. Fry them, turning occasionally to brown on all sides. This will take 5 minutes or so. When the meatballs are browned, remove them from the skillet to a plate or pan.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, add the remaining onions. Cook the onions for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the minced garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Next, add the white wine and cook for just a minute or so, stirring and gently scrapping any bits off the bottom of the pot. Add the tomato sauce, bay leaf and ketchup, stir well to combine.
Add the meatballs to the sauce, stir gently. Bring the sauce to a simmer, lower the heat to medium-low to low and cover. Cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Taste the sauce and add salt, if needed.
Sprinkle the remaining parsley on the meatballs and serve with white rice.