A CURRY-MAD pilot from Croydon flying to Brazil to watch the World Cup Final is bringing his mates the ultimate tikka-way.
Mustafa Aolad, 47, has managed to snag tickets to the world's biggest game at the Maracana in Rio on July 13 and flew out there on Wednesday.
But he and his Bangladeshi and English friends don't think much of the spicy grub being served up in Brazil, so have taken the extreme step of ordering a takeaway to be delivered from an Indian restaurant 5,500 miles away.
Mr Aolad said: "Some of my friends are already out there and they have told me the curry tastes like rubbish so I thought, why not try and fly it over there?"
The former Ashburton High pupil, who now lives in Wallington, intended to bring tens of dishes with him on his Air France flight, including fish curries, saag balls, onion bhajis and plenty of containers of his favourite dish – chicken dansak.
The dishes are allowed on board as long as they are frozen, sealed and kept in a freezer bag, but he added: "Unfortunately we're not allowed to take anything with king prawns in it because they are considered poisonous."
The dishes were prepared at Indiya Indiya, in Sutton High Street, and began their 5,762-mile journey from London City Airport on Wednesday morning.
Mr Aolad was due to land in Rio yesterday (Thursday) but he said he was "gutted" England are already out and wished he had managed to make his trip earlier.
"It was so disappointing because I think we have some really good players at the moment," he said.
"Next time, we should either just put the whole Manchester City side out or give the England players a bucket of vindaloo. That would make them run faster!"
The Crystal Palace fan flew for airline companies for 20 years, before starting his own aircraft salvage business in 2006.
Last year, he provided planes to be blown up in the Tom Cruise film The Edge Of Tomorrow and he has recently opened up an Indian restaurant on a disused plane in an airfield near Birmingham.
