Absolutely, you can use dry lentils instead of canned lentils. You just need to cook them before using in this recipe. To do so, put 1 cup dry lentil into a pot, add 3 cups of water over it, bring it to a boil, close the lid and simmer them until tender. It will take 15-20 minutes for the lentils to get tender. 1 cup dry lentil should yield almost 30 ounces of cooked tender lentils. In fact, dry lentils are healthier than canned lentils because of the high sodium levels in canned lentils. So, it is better to prefer dry lentils. However, if you do not have enough time, you can also use canned lentils after ensuring to rinse them very well to get rid of some sodium.