Fish fry

FOODIE

Hair and beauty expert Ambika Pillai rustles up a fish biryani that is easy to make.

Ambika Pillai is no ordinary hair stylist or make-up artist. Pillai, who came to Delhi as a 24-year-old divorcee with a two-year-old daughter in tow, had a vague idea that she should get into a profession that would suit a woman.

Her father, who was in the cashew export business in Kollam, Kerala, did not think that was appropriate for his daughter. From there to becoming a brand herself, Pillai has traversed a long road.

Recently she opened her flagship beauty salon at the tony Qutub Hotel in New Delhi. She says, "I started this beauty business out of sheer necessity. I now want to open 200 salons. The beauty and wellness industry is just picking up in India."

Today Pillai, who has done work on such important faces as Aishwarya Rai, Bipasha Basu, Madhuri Dixit and Malaika Arora, is not giving us beauty tips, but is cooking a fish biryani for this column.

She says, "I get all my Malayali recipes from my mom. The food in my house is very much Malayali. When we were growing up, chapati was probably made once a year or so."

Home in Kollam was a 13-acre property and the four Pillai siblings spent considerable time running riot. Says Pillai, "People often ask me if I would try different hairstyles on my sisters when we were growing up and I tell them that I spent most of my time building tree-houses. So I was up in a tree all the time."

That idyllic life was shattered when Pillai married. Her first marriage ended in divorce, and so did her second, but Pillai's successes at work kept mounting.

Now Pillai is closely associated with the fashion world and is considered one of India's foremost beauty and hair experts. Says Pillai, "I work really, really hard and I get very involved in the business." Last Diwali, for instance, Pillai visited the homes of all her 150 employees, irrespective of where they lived.

Pillai's maddening schedule means that the fish biryani has to be assembled quickly. There are already clients waiting for her at the salon. Although the biryani takes little time to make, the end result is delicious "" as are the accompaniments: sambhar, gunpowder, peas in coconut and, of course, papad.

Says Pillai, "I never cook north Indian food at home. If I feel like eating north Indian food, then we just eat out. Home food for me is Malayali food."

FAVOURITE RECIPE

FISH BIRYANI

1 kg fish
500 gm onions sliced and fried
1-inch piece ginger, cut into small pieces
3-4 cloves of garlic
15 green chillies
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp pepper
1-inch piece cinnamon
1/2 tsp powdered saunf
Ghee
Salt to taste
2 tbsp curd
Juice of half a lemon
4 tbsp coriander leaves
4 cups rice

Mix the fish, lemon juice, salt, curd, green chillies, ginger, garlic, turmeric powder and the powdered masala with about a third of the fried onions, and cook. Add two to three tablespoons of ghee.

Cook the rice separately with salt. Then put the cooked rice and two-thirds of the fried onions on top of the cooked fish. Pour the ghee on top of the rice and place over very low flame for about 10 minutes. Serve with raita and papad.