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Ghee Indian Kitchen Is All About Traditional Food With A Twist

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – It's all about flavor at Ghee Indian Kitchen in Kendall.

"Ghee" means pure in Hindi,  a symbolic meaning for owner Niven Patel who grows almost all of the vegetables used in the restaurant at his farm in Homestead.

Patel is using those ingredients for a special vegan dish he serves calls Backyard Patra.

Ghee is about traditional Indian food with a modern twist.

"The whole goal of ours is to make Indian food more approachable, where you still get flavors of our food, but not so spicy at it scares people away," he said.

The Backyard Patra has calabaza squash, grated potatoes, chili's and special Indian spices.

He adds the water from the potatoes, tossed in chickpea and rice flour to form a paste that's mixed with his hands.

He forms them into balls and then flash fries them. These are recipes learned from his childhood.

"In an an Indian household life revolves around food. We spend a lot of tim in the kitchen learning," he explained.

This Dadeland district location is the first of two Ghee Indian Kitchens. The other recently opened in the Miami Design District.

"I'm very fortunate the team that we've builtin both locations makes my life a lot easier," he said.

CBS4's Lisa Petrillo pointed out the entire wall of spices that looks like artwork, but it isn't.

"The jars are called the inspiration wall. It's a lot of spices, mixed grains, dried fruits; we get really good ingredients in and we go over there and decide what we're going to cook with every day," he said.

The design is as authentic as the food.

"We had all the furniture made in India. It's made out of mango wood. We wanted it simplistic with Indian touches so it's not too overdone," he said

So lets get to the food and that Backyaed Patra

"You can taste the vegetables,  the sweetness of the date chutney," Patel said.

"But it's not overwhelming. There's also a heat and its delicious," Petrillo said after biting in.

Next is steamed green millet served over house made yogurt.

"Again you talked about when you were a kid, and god was always a center of the Indian family. You can see why becasue it's all about flavors. Wow, it's really good," said Petrillo.

And finally a red snapper with coconut curry.

"We try to hit a couple different regions of India to give our diners a different experience than the normal stuff in most restaurants," said Patel.

"That's a special fish. That's fine dining right there," Petrillo said.

Ghee Indian Kitchen across from Dadeland Mall is open Monday through Saturday at 5 p.m. for dinner only.

For more info :www.gheemiami.com

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