Jeśli ryż jest zbyt suchy, dodaj trochę sosu albo masła.

Jeśli means if.

Yes, you can also use jeżeli. In most everyday situations, jeśli and jeżeli mean the same thing.

• jeśli is very common in speech
• jeżeli can sound a bit more formal or careful

So this sentence could also begin with Jeżeli.

Because Polish normally uses a comma to separate a subordinate clause from the main clause.

Here:

• Jeśli ryż jest zbyt suchy = the if clause
• dodaj trochę sosu albo masła = the main clause

So the comma is required:

• Jeśli ryż jest zbyt suchy, dodaj...

This is similar to English, where a comma is also often used after an introductory if clause.

Because suchy has to agree with ryż.

Ryż is:

• singular
• masculine
• the subject of the sentence

So the adjective also appears in the masculine singular form:

• ryż jest suchy

If the noun changed, the adjective would change too. For example:

• zupa jest sucha
• warzywa są suche

This is normal adjective agreement in Polish.

Yes, you could say za suchy.

Both zbyt suchy and za suchy mean too dry, but there is a slight difference in feel:

• zbyt = a bit more neutral, careful, or formal
• za = very common in everyday speech

So these are both natural:

• ryż jest zbyt suchy
• ryż jest za suchy

Dodaj is the imperative form, meaning add.

It comes from the verb dodać, which is a perfective verb. Perfective verbs usually focus on a completed action. Here the instruction is to add something once, as a result:

• dodaj trochę sosu = add a little sauce

So dodaj is the natural form for a single, practical instruction.

Usually, dodaj is better here.

The difference is aspect:

• dodaj from dodać = add it once / do the action
• dodawaj from dodawać = keep adding / add repeatedly / add in general

In a cooking instruction like this, Polish often prefers the perfective imperative when you mean one concrete action:

• dodaj trochę sosu albo masła

Dodawaj would suggest something more repeated or gradual, like keep adding.

Because Polish often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb already shows who is meant.

Dodaj already tells you that the command is directed to:

• you singular

So adding ty would usually be unnecessary:

• natural: dodaj trochę sosu
• possible but usually marked: ty dodaj trochę sosu

Polish is a language where subject pronouns are often omitted unless you want emphasis or contrast.

Because trochę is followed by the genitive case.

So after trochę:

• sos becomes sosu
• masło becomes masła

This is a very common pattern in Polish:

• trochę wody
• trochę chleba
• trochę cukru

So in your sentence:

• trochę sosu albo masła = a little sauce or butter

Because different nouns form the genitive in different ways.

Here:

• masło → masła
• sos → sosu

Some general tendencies:

• many neuter nouns in -o change to -a in the genitive singular
• masculine nouns may take -a or -u, depending on the word

Unfortunately, with masculine nouns especially, you often have to learn the genitive form together with the noun. There are patterns, but not one simple rule that works every time.

So it is best to learn:

• sos, sosu
• masło, masła

Both mean or.

In many sentences they are interchangeable, but:

• albo is very common in everyday speech
• lub can sound a bit more neutral or formal

So:

• sosu albo masła
• sosu lub masła

Both are correct. In ordinary spoken Polish, albo is extremely common.

Yes. Polish word order is fairly flexible.

This sentence can also be:

• Dodaj trochę sosu albo masła, jeśli ryż jest zbyt suchy.

The meaning stays basically the same. The difference is mostly about emphasis:

• starting with Jeśli... sets up the condition first
• starting with Dodaj... puts the instruction first

Both are natural.

A rough English-friendly guide:

• Jeśli ≈ YESH-lee
• ryż ≈ a short word with Polish y plus zh/sh at the end; this vowel is hard for English speakers
• zbyt ≈ zbyt with a Polish y sound, not an English ee
• suchy ≈ SOO-khy with ch like German Bach or Scottish loch
• dodaj ≈ DO-dye
• trochę ≈ TRO-khe; the final ę is nasal, but in normal speech it is often less strongly nasal than learners expect
• masła ≈ MAS-wa because ł sounds like English w

A few especially useful pronunciation notes:

• j in Polish sounds like English y
• ł sounds like English w
• ch is not like English ch in chair; it is a throaty sound
• Polish y is not the same as English ee

In this sentence, suchy is literal but practical: it means the rice is too dry to eat comfortably, so it needs something added, such as sauce or butter.

So it does not only mean dry in a technical sense. In cooking language, it can naturally suggest:

• not moist enough
• lacking sauce, fat, or liquid
• needing something to make it softer or richer

That is why dodaj trochę sosu albo masła fits naturally after it.