The Real Reason Your Biryani Is Soggy
Biryani is essentially a rice dish that's full of spices and offers a variety of flavors in every bite. According to The Spruce Eats, the basic recipe is prepared using long-grained rice and includes a combination of vegetables or meat (such as chicken, lamb, or fish), plus gravy and occasionally, nuts. It's a hearty meal that's time-consuming to prepare, but ideal for a celebration. Though its history is murky, many accounts point to Persia (now Iran) as a starting point and claim that biryani made its way to India later. It was initially a "rice-and-meat dish" but slowly evolved to encompass many forms, and is now fairly popular.
This rice dish is revered in South Asia and is often spotted in Pakistan, as well as Bangladesh, per Atlas Obscura. Interestingly, as a BBC piece reveals, biryani in Iran currently is now primarily made without rice, and instead consists of "succulent chunks of meat" that are served over rumali roti, a type of thin flatbread.
Biryani is a tricky dish to make, and mistakes can happen. For example, your efforts may taste a bit too bland or may end up being soggy. It's also possible that the recipe hasn't been cooked with the right mixture of spices, or the best-suited rice, such as basmati. As one home cook claims on Reddit, for the perfect taste, "it's incredibly important to make sure you get real Basmati rice, not the knockoff stuff some places sell."
To avoid soggy biryani, be mindful of the sauce
If your biryani keeps turning out too soggy and you're disappointed by its overall texture, don't worry — there are solutions that can be used to combat this problem. According to Bon Appétit, the best hack, in this case, is to pay close attention to the gravy and ensure that you're not overdoing it.
While there's no denying the fact that gravy in a biryani is one of the dish's most flavorful elements, it's important to use a small-to-moderate amount of sauce so that you're able to prepare a thick gravy that "clings to the meat or veggies." Another Reddit user shared a useful tip, writing that it's important to check in advance that you're using the right amount of water, and soaking the rice before cooking it. "Be cautious that different varieties of rice require different ratio to water ... I've made the mistake and made the worst jasmine rice before! Mush city," they opined. May all your future biryanis be fluffy and evenly seasoned.