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.