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Padma Lakshmi gets mom’s approval on Indian recipe
For mother's day Tamil conversation with her mother while recreating the South Indian family dish.
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Malvika Choudhary - Sat, 09, May 2026
- 18:10 EDT
- 32
Padma Lakshmi cooking the recipe / Instagram/ Padma Lakshmi
Padma Lakshmi, the American television host and model, celebrated Mother’s Day weekend by posting videos of herself making a South Indian dish from her mother’s recipe, encouraging her followers to reach out to their mothers and grandmothers for family recipes.
Lakshmi shared a reel showing herself preparing Vatha Kulambu, also spelled Vatha Kazhambu, while her mother critiqued her cooking. The dish, a tangy and spicy South Indian tamarind-based gravy, is traditionally eaten with rice and ghee or sesame oil.
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Describing it as one of her favorite comfort foods, Lakshmi said she regularly makes dishes such as sambar and rasam but had “never ever” made Vatha Kulambu herself before.
“There’s nothing more delicious than cool, cold yogurt rice” with Vatha Kulambu and vegetables on the side, Lakshmi said in the video, adding that she usually ate the dish only when her mother or grandmother prepared it.
In the caption accompanying the reel, Lakshmi said her first attempt at cooking the dish was “far from perfect” but “wasn’t bad for a first try.” She said she may have added “too many lentils to the ground mix” and substituted turnips for pearl onions or okra, which are more commonly used in the preparation.
Lakshmi also described the dish as a staple in her South Indian family’s meals growing up. She recalled that Vatha Kulambu and sautéed tindoora were often waiting for her whenever she arrived at her grandmother’s house from the airport.
Reflecting on learning recipes passed down through generations, Lakshmi wrote: “While it seemed easy to make this dish, it was also a humbling experience. Next time I will know how to build off of my mother’s spoken word poem of a recipe!! Let this be your sign to give your mom or grandma a call and get that recipe!”
The television host later shared another reel showing the finished dish to her mother over a video call, with the two speaking partly in Tamil.
After Lakshmi showed the dish on camera, her mother asked whether she had added mustard seeds to the preparation. Lakshmi replied in Tamil that she had included them, while her mother said she could not see them in the dish.
Lakshmi then joked, “You are a little mean about it, I think it looks good,” before pointing at the mustard seeds on camera and asking her mother in Tamil if she could see them now.
Her mother later responded, “It should taste good, that’s the main thing.”
Sharing the clip, Lakshmi wrote: “And you thought Krishna was harsh on my cooking! In case you missed the other video - I called my mom to find out how she makes Vatha Kulambu and then made her recipe with what I had in the fridge.”
Born in Chennai and raised in the United States, Lakshmi has often spoken publicly about her South Indian roots and food traditions. The former host of “Top Chef” currently hosts and executive produces the CBS cooking competition series “America’s Culinary Cup,” which premiered in 2026. She is also known for her Hulu food and culture series “Taste the Nation,” which explores immigrant food communities across the US.
She ended the post with a Mother’s Day message, writing: “Happy Mother’s Day weekend to all of the moms out there.”
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