To prevent the plantains from staining your hands, apply a small amount of oil to your hands before peeling. Cut the ends off each plantain and slice the peel from one end to the other. Unpeel each one, keeping the green and ripe ones separate.

Put the green plantains in a small pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil and boil until soft (about 15 to 20 minutes or more). Remove green plantains from the pot and add ripe plantains to the boiling water (they will take less time to soften). Once they are soft, remove them.

Combine the plantains, add a bit of salt, and mash. Add small amounts of water as needed to hydrate the mash. Mash until uniform and form into a ball. Set aside.

Optional: season fish with salt and pepper and fry until brown. Set aside.

In a skillet or pot, pour in the coconut milk and heat, stirring continuously. Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Stir in the basil leaves, and let it steam for roughly 10 minutes. Make sure to keep stirring the mixture to avoid burning or curdling the coconut milk. Add the whole habanero pepper and the okra. Cook on low heat until the okra is softened.

Add the fish to the mixture and continue to cook until the fish is cooked through.

If you don’t fry the fish beforehand, you can turn up the heat here as long as the coconut milk doesn’t curdle.

Salt and pepper can be further added to taste.

The plantain mash is served on the side.