Babaji’s Kerala Kitchen, a restaurant that blossomed from a market stall to become a hatted south Indian restaurant in Belgrave, has opened a second location that might just be its spiritual home.

Against a backdrop of mountains, forest and river in Warburton, the setting feels exactly like the mountains of Kerala, says co-owner Billy Crombie, whose husband Max Kamil Hossan hails from the southern Indian state and proudly serves the food he grew up with.

“I’ve tried to tie the nature of Warburton in with the nature of Kerala,” says Crombie.

The couple’s first restaurant in Belgrave has slowly built a following of Keralans missing the flavours of coconut milk, seafood and curry leaves, and non-Indians who relish the chance to try a different strand of the country’s cuisine.

The menu of restrained and expertly spiced dishes is the same at Babaji’s Birrarung, named for the river that snakes through Warburton.

There’s the signature sadhya, a selection of 12 complementary dhals, raitas, curries, and vegetable dishes served on a banana leaf. It’s often paired with beef fry, a dry curry with lots of fresh coconut and pepper. Street eats join dosas, idli (steamed rice cakes) and a host of curries enriched by cashew, tamarind and cardamom.

The building is a 1930s gem with large bow windows that give nearly every table in the 200-seat dining room views of greenery and nature. Inside, it’s a riot of pink leopard-print wallpaper, turquoise cane furniture and trailing vines.

With a separate bar and additional capacity outside, the venue is large, but that was its appeal. It means Babaji’s can now host the many large Indian families that try to visit the smaller Belgrave restaurant, as well as weddings and other cultural events.

Community is everything to Crombie, who gave away meals during lockdown and donated proceeds from dosa sales to Mallacoota after the town’s devastating bushfires in 2020.

Receiving a hat in The Age Good Food Guide 2024 was “really validating”, she says.

“You battle. You’re a tiny little Indian restaurant in a place that you shouldn’t be. We’re not Footscray, we’re not Dandenong,” she says.

Open lunch Sat-Sun, dinner Thu-Sun

3305 Warburton Highway, Warburton, 03 8288 2982, babajiskitchen.com.au