Slow-Cooked Chickpeas and Kidneys

This dish is quite different from the more usual bean and pork combinations. It is rich and warming and very inexpensive. Beef kidney makes a good gravy which marries curiously with the nuttiness of the chickpeas. To make a meatier dish, gently melt the ‘suet’ from around the kidney to fry the onions in instead of the olive oil. However, only a real butcher will sell you this - you never see fresh suet in the supermarket.