Originally Posted by
taxicabnumber
I'd quibble with this -- my guess is you're referring to restaurant Indian food, which is generally made through the following process:
1. Take traditional recipe (for saag paneer, for example, or maybe for something without paneer that's healthier)
2. Add less spice
3. Dump tons of cream and ghee
Additionally, most restaurants in the US tend to only serve North Indian food. Southern food is quite different, and while ghee makes its way into many dishes, the food is generally quite light.
I'm Indian-American; the food I grew up eating, and now cook for myself, is quite different from the super-fatty restaurant variants. DIY sometime! You'd be surprised at how unimportant ghee actually is to much of the cuisine.
+100^
Restaurant Indian food in US is nowhere close to authentic Indian food. Which in itself is a rarity in restaurants in India (at least in big metro cities).
To taste the authentic food get yourself invited to an Indian home and tell the hosts to cook everyday dishes and not bother about non-Indian palate. You will be surprised how little ghee is used in cooking.
Even after all said and done ghee itself is not unhealthy - in fact it is one of the best source of saturated fats which are making a name for themselves these days.
IMO French use more butter then Indians use ghee!