Today his business partner, Tariq Salahuddin, and his wife, Kamrun, will board a privately chartered jet in Dublin with half the order — cooked in their outlet in the Irish Republic — placed by Steve Francis, a New York dance music producer. Mr Salahuddin will be flown to Belfast to pick up the rest of the banquet before flying on to London.
The transatlantic takeaway will be blast-chilled before leaving, and packed in dry ice, so that it need only be heated through on arrival.
As the restaurant advised the airlines in advance of the cargo, the food will be stowed in a special container that will be checked in as regular baggage.
On reaching London they will board a Virgin Atlantic flight to New York. There they will be met by a limousine that will take them to a private party in midtown Manhattan.
Once the meal has been served Mr Salahuddin and his wife will be put up in a hotel for the night before flying back to Ireland the next day.
In the normal course of an evening’s business a takeaway from Indie Spice that costs more than £20 includes a free bottle of wine and perhaps a further £5 taxi fare.
Tonight’s meal, including the exotic fish bhuna, four chicken chat masalas, lots of onion bhajis and lashings of chutneys for the poppadoms — and the hot towels — will cost Mr Francis $2,500 (£1,400).
He might console himself with the thought that he qualifies for 70 free bottles of wine, except that Mr Salahuddin said that carrying so much alcohol had defeated him.
Besides, when compared with the transport costs, the bill for the food could be described as reasonable. Once the private charter plane, flights and New York accommodation are included, Mr Francis’s craving for a curry will have set him back more than £8,000.
Mr Ahmed admitted that he was a little surprised when the order came through. “At first I thought someone was messing us about but it turned out it wasn’t a wind-up. We said we can do this, but what about the logistics? And they said, ‘Don’t worry, we can sort that out’. The fish is down in Dublin, there are two big tigerfish — baygar — flown in specially from Bangladesh because Mr Francis said they wanted some really special fish.”
Mr Francis, a founder member of the Soul II Soul music group that recorded two 1989 hits — Keep on Movin’ and Back to Life — didn’t resort to the Yellow Pages to find his Indian takeaway.
“We were serving food in a music festival in England,” said Mr Salahuddin. “I met Steve Francis but I didn’t remember him when he placed the order. He must have really enjoyed our food.
“It took a couple of days to ensure it wasn’t a hoax, but we are very happy to make him the meal and hope that he has a night to remember.”
Mr Francis, who now heads Stush Music, a record company specialising in R&B, rap and jazz, could not be contacted last night but his caterers understand that he is holding a private dinner for a young soul singer, called Heather Park, who is a big fan of Indian food.
The feast sets a new benchmark for globetrotting foodie treats. Conservationists would be horrified at the news that its transport will create 42 tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to climatecare.org — which would charge an additional £315 “offset” towards sustainable energy projects.
