You don’t have to know the cuisine to feel included at Babaji’s. “You’re welcome to eat with your hands, everyone here does anyway,” a capable waiter might say as a puffy dosa lands on your table.

The patterned walls, star-shaped lanterns and fake greenery are more charming than kitsch, and the place is packed with Melbourne’s Keralan community.

Vignettes of the motherland pepper the menu. A fish curry carries heat, acid tang from tomato and tamarind, and the tale of an uncle bringing in the daily catch. Chicken biryani, key at Muslim weddings, is subtly sweetened with pineapple and potent with cardamom’s piney-musk aroma.

Coriander lends zing to juicy chicken momos (a nod to Nepalese staff), while payasam, the comforting rice pudding-like dessert made with vermicelli and sago, is as warming as this congenial haven.