Harissa, the basic condiment in Tunisian and Maghrebian cuisine, is extremely versatile: it can be used for meat, fish, vegetables, or into stews and soups or even with rice and couscous. The lovers of hot foods are going to particularly like this recipe but the amount of heat can always be adjusted by adding less number of chillies or more peppers.
Wash the pepper and chillies.Cut off the green top and chop the red hot chilli peppers.Cut off the green top and chop roughly the red pepper.
Transfer the chillies and the pepper to a steamer.Add garlic cloves and the bay leaf.Steam for about 20 minutes.
Transfer the steamed pepper, chillies and garlic cloves to a food processor (or a blender).Blend until it forms a smooth paste.(Optional) Pass the paste through a strainer to have a more smooth texture.Add Lemon juice, olive oil, hot pepper powder, salt, cumin and mix all ingredients.
Over medium heat, add the mixed paste and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until a dark smoky colour and almost caramelized.Store in a sterilized jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or even longer.