My first taste memory is pickle. Even as a kid, I was really weird. I liked chillis. I used to climb up the shelves in my grandmother's pantry. The pickle jar was kept right at the top. One time, I dropped the jar and it broke. I was totally busted.

She grew up shuttling between her grandparents in Chennai and her mother in New York. She speaks English Tamil Hindi Italian and Spanish.

She has been the host of the US reality television program Top Chef since season two in 2006 for which Padma Lakshmi received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program. Padma Parvati Lakshmi (pronounced [ˈpəd̪maː ˈpaːrʋət̪iː ˈləkʃmiː]; born September 1 1970) is an Indian American cookbook author actress model and television host.