Happy kids = happy guests always. Children under three eat free. Children's meals are available at $20 each.
For sure! (as long as we get pats). Both our two restaurants have outside dog friendly dining and we even have free raw bones in the fridge as a special treat. Head here to see our favourite doggy friendly walks in the Yarra Valley & Dandenong Ranges.
Yes - with notice before your event. Because our dishes are slow-cooked, we cannot adjust spice levels on the day. We recommend discussing this with us in advance so we can prepare dishes to suit your crowd. For guests who cannot tolerate any spice at all, we can advise on suitable additional options.
The state of Kerala is made up of roughly 30% Christians, 30% Muslims and 30% Hindus - this means that meat is important in our culture.
Whilst we're known for our fresh fish dishes, our most loved dish is Kerala beef curry served with freshly made Malabar Parotta. It's as popular as a Aussie parma at the pub!
Absolutely. Most of our best events are a mix of experiences: a buffet, a cart, a LIVE station. Tell us what you’re imagining and we’ll build it around your event.
Of course! Many of our dishes are served at our restaurants in Belgrave & Warburton. For those that are not, please make an appointment with our catering manager to organise.
If a Government directive or natural disaster prevents your event from going ahead, we will do everything we can to reschedule. We hold permits that allow us to cook on total fire ban days. We are unable to cater on days declared catastrophic by the CFA in bush fire prone areas (city venues not affected).
We require a 30% deposit upon booking. This deposit is fully refundable up to 6 weeks prior to your event. After this time the deposit is non refundable. The balance of payment, confirmation of total guest numbers and dietary requirements is required 10 days before your event. Minimum charges will be applied if guest numbers drop below this amount.
We are happy to use the kitchen at your venue and have all the necessary insurances and permits to allow us to do this. And just like an Indian mum, we’ll leave the place spotless when we’re done! Alternatively, we can set up our mobile kitchen - which can, if needed be fully self sufficient. For this we need a large flat space and potentially access to power.
We sure are! As well as having a seperate kid's menu, we welcome kids with activities to keep them entertained.
Yes. A large proportion of our menus are naturally gluten free and vegan. We cater for most dietary and religious requirements with advance notice — please flag these at the time of booking. While we have strict allergen management processes in place, we are unable to guarantee our dishes are completely allergen-free due to the possibility of cross-contamination in our kitchen and across our suppliers.
Absolutely! Babajis began our journey in 2014 as a food truck cooking at festivals, markets and weddings across Victoria. Nothing makes us happier. Find out more here.
Most definitely! South Indian food relies heavily on coconut and lentils and not cream and butter.
More than half of our menu is vegan friendly. We have a seperate vegan menu to help you out.
Most definitely! Our menu's reliance on lentils and not wheat, means that 80% of our menu is gluten free and coeliac safe. We follow strict food safety procedures to make sure there is no cross contamination as well as training our staff in allergen awareness. Make sure to ask for our seperate gluten free menu.
Of course we do! Though butter chicken is not a South Indian dish, we make the Yarra Valley's best butter chicken!
The meat served at Babaji's Kerala Kitchen is Halal (please request to sight our supplier's halal certificate).
There is no pork on site at either of Babaji's Kerala Kitchen's two South Indian restaurants.
Dosa! A thin, crispy, savory crepe from South India, made from a fermented batter of rice and lentils, similar to a pancake but much thinner and often served plain or filled with spiced potatoes (Masala Dosa). As you travel around India, everyone has a different way of doing dosa. Ours are influenced by Babajis early days cooking at music festivals right here across Victoria. Golden Plains, Meredith ... happy days! A little different to the norm.
All of our dosas are cooked with fermented lentils & idli rice and served with sambar vegetable daal & coconut chutney.
South Indian food is typically rice-based, spicier, tangier, and uses coconut/curry leaves, while North Indian food is wheat-based (roti/naan), creamier, richer with dairy (ghee/paneer), uses milder spices like garam masala, and features tandoor cooking, making North Indian dishes heavier and South Indian dishes lighter and more fermented.
You know that aunty who insists you eat, eat, eat! That’s us! We’re used to cooking for ’the village’, expect the food to flow and everyone to leave with satisfied bellies.
We can set up on all private properties (front lawns, driveways and sometimes back yards).
We require good accessibility and a flat space of at least 4 x 4m with no stairs to navigate.
To set up on council or Parks Victoria land, permits may be required. All event permits and associated costs are your responsibility. We can provide you with all our permits allowing us to cook outside, including our public liability insurance, CFA permits & Food Safety certificates.
Every event is different, so we adapt the service style to suit your venue and guests.
We can serve directly from our mobile street kitchen, set up a buffet, provide full table service or have our team roaming with canapés as guests mingle.
Whether you're hosting a backyard celebration, wedding, corporate function or festival, we'll help find the approach that works best for your space and budget
We are experienced in cooking for small events of 50 people, to cooking for thousands at large weddings and huge music festivals! We may require a larger space to cook for groups over 200 to allow us to set up a bigger mobile kitchen.
In most cases, we cook from our food van, our fully self-sufficient festival kitchen which we set up or our vintage food carts. Watching us cook is the magic of an Indian kitchen – expect street food theatre, colour, cheesy banter & your guests salivating as the smells waft through your venue.
For most events we require the following space:
Festival Kitchen (marquee) - 4mx4m - flat space. We also require access to our van and clear access of no more than 10 metres away.
Trailer - 5m x 5m - flat space.
Carts - 3m x 2m (we do have a smaller option)
Because each dosa is cooked fresh to order, they do take a little time. As a guide, we can usually cook around 60 large dosas per hour, depending on weather conditions (if cooking outdoors) and the complexity of the fillings.
Our dosas are generous in size (around 40cm across), so for events we often recommend cutting them in half and serving them as shared portions. For larger groups, we may also suggest offering idli or another accompaniment to keep queues moving and ensure everyone is well fed.
Planning an event with more than 100 guests? No problem. Let us know your numbers and we'll work with you to create a service plan that keeps the food flowing and your guests happy.