PICS: On Padma Lakshmi's 48th birthday, here's a look at 8 lesser known facts about her

Padma Lakshmi's actual name is Padma Parvati Lakshmi Vaidynathan, although she went by 'Angelique' until college. When the model officially became an American citizen, she legally changed her name to Padma Lakshmi in honor of her mother, who shortened her name to Vidjaya Lakshmi, after divorcing Padma’s father. 

Before she started her career in food, Padma tried her hand at acting

Due to her multicultural background, Padma is fluent in English, Hindi, Tamil, Spanish and Italian

"You weren’t allowed to touch the spices, you weren’t allowed to turn on the stove until you went to middle school,” Padma recalled of her grandmother's kitchen in India, in an interview sometime back. “Only when you were going to college were you really allowed to learn how to cook, in case you were going to starve,” she added

In addition to listening to a roster of classical Indian musicians, Lakshmi's daughter, Krishna, takes carnatic vocal classes and wants to be a pop star

The Endometriosis Foundation of America raises awareness about endometriosis, an inflammatory disease that affects a woman’s fertility and physical health. While Lakshmi suffered from the disease, which causes intense cramping, among a host of uncomfortable physical symptoms, since the age of 13, she was only diagnosed at 36

Throughout her career, Padma has written two cookbooks, a memoir and, her recent work is an A-to-Z compendium of spices, herbs, salts, peppers and blends

Padma Lakshmi discovered the condition when she was 14 years old after being hospitalized for 2 weeks. The syndrome causes layers of the skin to separate and is often caused by hypersensitivity to medications or other diseases.