Home Date? No, I'm Cooking At Her House For Some Reason - Chapter 1

One Sunday Afternoon

[Author’s Note]

This is my second work.

It’s a completely different story from the previous one.

It’s probably a heartwarming slice-of-life, maybe even a romantic comedy.

I’ve loosely included some cooking instructions in the story, so I hope you enjoy it.

I’ll be posting continuously for a while, but after that, it will be irregular.

I, Masanao Hattori, am currently in the kitchen at my girlfriend Okada-san’s house. How many times have I been here now?

What I am doing is preparing dinner. Okada-san and I are cooking together.

I don’t usually cook at other people’s houses, even if it’s her house, but for some reason, her parents requested that I cook almost every Sunday.
It’s not like I’m doing it to get permission to date Okada-san; it’s just that her dad seems to like me.
I’ve been making lunch or dinner while studying for exams or having home dates.

It can be quite a hassle when we’re asked to do it after going somewhere, but those times become enjoyable with an added shopping date at the supermarket.

Well, what I’m going to be making today is curry… let’s make keema curry.

Keema curry… it’s a curry using minced meat, either dry or thick and saucy. I’m not sure which one is correct.

At our place, it’s more like a thick curry than a dry one.

The basic ingredients are minced meat, onions, and potatoes. I don’t like carrots (not that I can’t eat them), so I don’t include them.

For toppings, you can add vegetables like pumpkin, bell peppers, carrots, or asparagus, roasted or fried (carrots are for those who want them).

“Okada-san, please cut the potatoes into about 1 cm cubes. Be careful because they roll. Take your time.”

“I’ll cut the onions here. About 1 cm as well.”

“After cutting the potatoes, pre-cook them in the microwave.”

“Yesss.”

“After you finish cutting the potatoes and onions, it’s time to start cooking.”

Heat some oil in a pot, sauté grated ginger and garlic over low heat until fragrant, then stir-fry the minced meat until cooked through.

You can also pre-fry the finely chopped onions until they turn amber, that’s also okay.

Add the potatoes and onions and stir-fry.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and steam-fry using the moisture from the onions, stirring occasionally.

“Be careful not to burn it due to lack of moisture. Add a little water if it’s not enough.”

“Yesss.”

While the onions are cooking, dissolve the curry roux in boiling water prepared in advance.

Be careful not to make it too watery.

If it’s too thick, you can loosen it with water, and if it’s a little thin, it will thicken when heated.

Once the onions turn translucent, add the dissolved roux and simmer for a while.

For toppings, slice them thinly so they cook easily.

For frying, sprinkle flour on the surface of the ingredients and fry with a little extra oil in a frying pan.

Simply grill if you like.

Then, just choose your toppings for the curry.

When it was finished, I decided to call Okada-san’s parents over to eat.

I’ll also serve instant soup with the leftover hot water.

“This is Keema curry.”

“It’s from my parents’ house. We also have a drier version.”

“There’s no carrot in it.”

“I don’t like carrots, so I didn’t put any in. You can add carrots as toppings if you want.”

“You don’t eat carrots?”

“It’s not that I can’t eat them. I just don’t buy them myself. Besides, I get enough carotene from pumpkin and vegetable juice.”

“Fufufu.”

“Hahaha.”

“Then, itadakimasu.”

“””Itadakimasu.””’

It’s not the usual big curry with typical ingredients; the minced meat is small, and there are many small potatoes and onions, so the texture is different.

The amount of potatoes and onions on a spoon is different, so the taste is quite mild.

Furthermore, the meat is different, so even if you use the same roux, it’s a bit different.

So, I’m concerned whether they’ll find it delicious. As long as they don’t say it’s bad, it should be fine.

“Is this minced meat Keema curry? Not bad.”

“Dear, you shouldn’t say it like that after he went through the trouble of making it for you.”

“Well, it’s curry, so it’s not like it tastes extremely different, that’s just the way it is.”

“Ah, sorry, sorry. It’s a different minced meat from the usual curry, but it’s surprisingly good.”

“If you think it’s delicious, that’s good, but please say so properly.”

“Okada-san, how about you? It’s not too difficult to make, right?”

“Yeah, it’s delicious. Making it… I guess I’ll get used to it.”

“Then, should we have Kyoko make it next time?”

“Ehhh, dad, wait a minute.”

It looks like we’ll end up making it together again.

Afterwards, we had a pleasant conversation while eating Keema curry and finished our meal.

Maybe they’ll ask us again next week.

By the way, this Keema curry can also be poured over pasta instead of meat sauce, or diluted with noodle soup to make curry udon.

So, make a little extra, divide it into small portions, freeze it, and you can use it later for lunch or something.